


Careful

by TheSoundOfThunderstorms



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, conflicting thoughts, hotel rendezvous, little drops of murder, the job vs wants
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-20
Updated: 2019-07-20
Packaged: 2020-07-09 09:15:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 25,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19885222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSoundOfThunderstorms/pseuds/TheSoundOfThunderstorms
Summary: It was hard to let go of what she thought she knew. But maybe it was worth it.





	Careful

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a while huh? Anyway, enjoy :)

Amélie eyed the newest arrival making their way to the security line. They wore a suit with a crooked tie, beamed a charming smile, and ran their fingers through their short hair as they lifted the diamond bracelet off some woman in the middle of the line. They bore an uncanny resemblance to the sketch on Amélie’s phone, the only picture she could get of her target.

“You know, I don’t think that belongs to you.” Amélie had made her way over, certain of their identity, or rather the lack of. Her organization had been tracking Sombra. A spy who sold information to the highest bidder. Someone who could drain a man’s bank account, send him into ruin, or leave him lying in a puddle of his blood without a trace. Amélie only managed to get a sketch of them after questioning a live-in maid who was all too happy to clean up a crimson-stained carpet after getting a generous tip from the “well-mannered” spy.

“Well,” the spy adjusted their tie, making it slightly worse than before, “I’m a woman of little needs,” she raised the bracelet between them and put it on, “but I kinda need it to get inside. And something tells me you don’t really care, otherwise, I’d have security on my ass right about now. Nice Spanish by the way.”

Amélie crossed her arms, feeling her bracelet pressed against her skin. She ignored the compliment and focused on what mattered. No one got in without the bracelet and a thorough security check. The millionaire hosting the invite-only investor dinner in his vacation home in Madrid made sure of that. She was given an invitation because her superiors were major investors in the man’s company but Sombra made it apparent that anyone could get their hands on one simply by stealing it. “Maybe I’m trying to see what you’re up to first.”

“So, you’re bored?” Sombra held out her arm. “Be my date in line then. Promise it won’t be boring.”

“And help you look less suspicious.”

The smile on Sombra’s face only got bigger. “Anyone tell you that you’re really smart?”

Amélie took hold of Sombra’s offered arm, keeping her close. She didn’t need Sombra running off on her. “And what about you?”

“I’d like to describe myself as…,” Sombra searched Amélie’s eyes, looking for something, “Careful.”

Amélie’s eye nearly twitched at the word. Sombra was more than careful. She was near impossible to find. That fact kept Amélie on guard because finding Sombra here was entirely too easy. “What you’re pulling right now isn’t careful.”

Sombra arched a brow. “You sure?”

Indignant yelling tore Amélie’s attention away from Sombra. The woman Sombra stole the bracelet from kicked and shook her head as two security guards escorted her out of line. Mascara ran down her face along with her tears as she tried, again and again, to tell them she had an invitation. Sombra nodded in the woman’s direction.

“She looks like the one who wasn’t careful.”

Amélie laughed and the line kept moving. They spoke about nothing, nothing that mattered anyway. But Sombra had charm and used anything to get Amélie to keep laughing. A shame she had to die.

Getting past security was simple. Amélie had only brought a clutch with her that matched her dress. Money, keys, and makeup were all security could find. Of course, she had left the gun she was provided with in her hotel room. Not that she’d need it. There were other ways to take out her mark. The only troubling thing being that Sombra had disappeared on her once they got inside. Someone had approached her with a tray of drinks and after she took one for the sake of politeness, she looked over and saw Sombra was gone.

“Where did you go?” Amélie put her drink down on the nearest surface and went to search for the spy.

Certain areas of the house were blocked off by security, no doubt an easy obstacle to get by for Sombra but Amélie had a hunch Sombra was somewhere more accessible. At the announcement of dinner, Amélie caught movement by the doors leading out to the back garden. She followed, hoping they’d be alone.

A fountain greeted Amélie through the double doors. High hedges blocked off the view to the garden, acting as a boundary and the perfect cover for an assassination. Amélie moved deeper through the neatly trimmed plants and tasteful statues, almost wandering with no sign of her target.

“Not hungry?”

Amélie made it to the back, turning the corner to find Sombra lying down on a wooden bench swing, foot rocking it gently in steady kicks off the pavement below. Sombra had her face buried in her phone but her eyes stared still at the screen, not reading a damn thing.

“I ate before.”

“Not eating at a dinner party,” Sombra put her phone down on her stomach and closed her eyes, grinning, “looks suspicious.”

“As suspicious as you?” Amélie scanned the garden, finding a misplaced trowel sitting by an incomplete patch of flowers. She could take it and ram it straight through Sombra’s throat. She could stab Sombra over and over until she bled out. Or even go for the eyes and jam it in through Sombra’s skull, no doubt getting to hear that sickly popping of bone.

“You think I’m suspicious?”

Amélie got closer, leaning against the swing. She disregarded all thoughts of the trowel as she looked at Sombra’s vulnerable state. It would be just as easy to choke the woman with her bare hands. “I know you’re suspicious.”

Sombra peeked an eye open, pleased with the answer. “I just like to have fun once in a while.”

“And what’s so fun about crashing a boring dinner party?”

Sombra opened the other eye and her face softened. She sat up, locking eyes with Amélie. “Who said anything about the party being fun?”

Did she know this whole time? “What do you mean?” Amélie backed a step away from the swing as Sombra stood up.

Sombra took Amélie’s place, leaning against the frame. “Play a game with me and I’ll let you know exactly what I meant.”

Why? I could kill you right now. Slam your head against the ground that you pass out way before you die. I could make it so it hurts. Make you watch me, see nothing but me. “What’s the game?”

Sombra took a step towards Amélie. She leaned in, speaking softly, “Two minutes, then come find me.”

Amélie stood there, watching Sombra walk away. She didn’t move as she ticked away the seconds in her head. Her muscles twitched when two minutes came and went, jerking to motion back towards the house.

Laughter rang from the dining room. The rest of the guests were still eating. Amélie searched the home again, walking around with slow steps, glancing through the many rooms on the first floor. Certain that Sombra hadn’t left, she took note of the security guards watching over the stairs to the second floor. Or rather, the one guard.

There were two earlier. It meant Sombra was up there.

Looking around, Amélie spotted her discarded drink from earlier. She went for it and then threw it against the wall of a nearby room. Keeping out of view, Amélie stayed hidden until the security guard ran past her in search of the sound.

The stairs were clear by the time she reached them again. Amélie didn’t waste time searching around, growing a bit frustrated after finding nothing but empty rooms. Until she got to the last one at the end of the east hall.

A lounge of sorts. The room had three white couches framing around the entrance. Sombra sat on the middle couch farthest from the door. She had a slouched posture with a drink in her hand and a liquor bottle by her foot.

“This guy’s got one thing right,” Sombra said after sipping her drink.

“What’s that?” Amélie shut the door behind her, locking it.

“Don’t sit with your back to the door.” Another sip. “You never know who’s coming.”

“And if this was it, your last moment alive, how would you want to spend it?” Amélie closed the distance between them, stopping a hairsbreadth away from Sombra. She could drop her hand, ghosting it over Sombra’s pants and go up, taking hold of that stupid tie and straightening it out, pulling it tighter and tighter until the desperate hands clawing at her arms gave way and fell limp.

“I’d spend it with a beautiful woman.”

Amélie took the drink out of Sombra’s hand. She downed the rest in one go and put it on the floor by the bottle. Hiking up her dress, she straddled Sombra’s lap. Amélie opened her clutch, pulling out a tube of lipstick and her mirror.

The mirror popped open, blocking out Sombra’s face. Amélie focused on her lipstick, spreading it over her lips, feeling that tingling of poison bleeding into her skin. It’d kill her within the hour, without the neutralizing agent.

She wrapped her arms around Sombra’s neck, smiling at Sombra’s struck gaze. “You’re calling me beautiful?”

Sombra nodded and lifted her hands, hovering them in the air above Amélie’s waist. “Can I touch you?” Her hands traveled upward at Amélie’s yes, the firm press of fingers dug into Amélie’s dress until they reached Amélie’s shoulders, pulling back the pressure until a feather-light touch moved against Amélie’s collarbones.

It was frustrating. Amélie wanted Sombra to touch her with those warm hands. They felt burning hot through her dress. And she was shivering. Because first, the poison makes you cold. An icy chill envelops you. Not because of Sombra’s eyes and their unwavering want. Or when Sombra found those sensitive spots that made her groan because Sombra never gave her more. Amélie’s head spun when her zipper came down and her dress pooled to her waist.

“Can I kiss you?”

Sombra’s question reminded Amélie that she was so, so cold and Sombra was still warm as could be. “Yes.” Her breath hitched, caught off guard by Sombra’s kiss on her collarbones. Sombra’s hands grabbed hold of her back, squeezing out the space between them.

“You’re shaking.” Sombra soothed her hands along Amélie’s back, warming up her freezing skin.

“It’s cold in here.” Amélie leaned over to Sombra’s neck, leaving a deep red stain of lipstick over the carotid artery. It’d spread straight to the brain.

Sombra pressed a hand to her neck, keeping the other on Amélie’s lap. She pulled it into view, rubbing the lipstick between her fingertips.

Does she know? Does she feel it?

Amélie gasped once her thighs hit the couch cushion. Sombra took off her suit jacket and put it over Amélie’s shoulders. She clutched at the jacket, feeling her heart racing. Because it smelled like Sombra and Sombra was looking at her, pupils wide with want.

“Better?”

Did she really not know? “Better.” Amélie held the jacket tighter, watching Sombra unclasp her heels. She’d never done this before, let them get as far as Sombra did. A kiss to the neck and she’d be gone, confirming their death with a media shitstorm the next day. But she liked the way Sombra touched her. The thrill of it all, trying to find out what game Sombra was playing, if she was even playing at all. Most of all, past the want and admiration, it was that unwavering carefulness Sombra had that made the whole damn thing too exciting.

Or maybe it was the poison.

Because next, it heats you up, making you sweat. Amélie had stopped shivering, long after her heels hit the ground. After Sombra laid her down along the white cushions and ran a shaking hand up her thigh.

Are you cold now? You can’t have the jacket back. I like it, you know.

Amélie buried her hand in Sombra’s hair, gasping as Sombra’s fingers slipped beneath her underwear, setting a rhythm that made her hips jerk. She bit her bottom lip, tasting the poison on her tongue. Tart and sweet.

A bead of sweat traveled down from Amélie’s temple. It slicked the loose hairs framing her face. Amélie couldn’t find one care about it. Not when Sombra didn’t stop, flaunting her stamina with her dizzying pace and gentle scrape of teeth as Sombra’s mouth explored her chest. Or maybe because it was so warm. Hot enough that she could hear the blood pumping in her ears. And then…

And then the last thing you feel is euphoria. So you won’t care that you died.

It took a while to realize that Amélie had been stuck there, hands pulling Sombra’s face closer, legs wrapped around Sombra’s waist, keeping everything still. She let go, taking in steady breaths as she tried to find her way through the pleasant fog of her mind.

Sombra moved first, climbing up further and taking hold of Amélie’s face. She kissed Amélie, slow lips taking their time exploring Amélie’s, her tongue spreading that candy-like taste of poison. And then she pulled away.

“Damn.” Sombra sat up, resting on Amélie’s hips. She rolled up one sleeve, taking a break to wipe away at her forehead before rolling up the other. “I’m burning up.” She slid off Amélie to stand on her knees in front of the couch. “I need to go,” Sombra ran a hand through her hair and then wiped it against her pants, “I need to go.” She grabbed hold of Amélie’s hand and helped Amélie sit up. “But first, let’s get you decent.”

A blush spread over Amélie’s cheeks. It got worse when Sombra took the time to straighten out her dress, zipping it back up, and checking everything was in place. Worse still when Sombra put Amélie’s heels back on with gentle fingers meticulously adjusting the straps. She apologized about the smeared lipstick and then reached for her jacket.

Amélie pushed Sombra’s hand away and put the jacket around her shoulders again. She watched the dazed look on Sombra’s face morph into amusement.

Sombra laughed, shrugging apologetically for daring to take her jacket back. She tried to get up, except Amélie wouldn’t let her. “I need to go.” For all she tried, she couldn’t keep herself from laughing.

“Shh, come here,” Amélie guided Sombra’s head to rest against her thigh. She ran her fingers through short hair, smoothing the damp hair away from Sombra’s forehead every so often. “Is it hot anymore?”

Sombra took a while to answer. “No.” It came out soft and breathy.

“Does it feel good?”

“So damn good.”

Reaching for her clutch, Amélie pulled out her mirror and a different lipstick, applying it as fast as her sluggish body would allow. She breathed in deep, taking in air like she’d been holding it in the whole time. Near-instant relief.

Beautiful.

Sombra circled her arms around Amélie’s hips, head still resting against Amélie’s thigh, with eyes closed and a grin, looking like she was having a good dream. No fucking cares given.

Amélie tapped Sombra’s cheek and urged Sombra to sit up. She leaned forward, placing a kiss on Sombra’s cheek. It almost startled her how fast Sombra’s eyes fluttered open.

“I need to-”

“-Ah. Just one thing.” Amélie took hold of Sombra’s tie, smiling to herself as she straightened the damn thing. “Crooked tie.”

Even after Amélie had finished with Sombra’s tie, Sombra didn’t move. She kept Amélie’s gaze, continuing her search for something Amélie couldn’t fathom.

I want to ask what you’re looking for, but that would end the game, wouldn’t it? And we just started.

“What’s your name?” Sombra touched her cheek, smearing the red kiss on her cheek.

What’s a name to you? What can you do with just one name? “Amélie.”

Sombra got up. “See, how did I know it was going to be something pretty?” She smoothed out her pants and used her fingers to comb her hair in the same general direction. Satisfied, Sombra headed straight for the door, giving her jacket on Amélie’s shoulders one passing glance.

“And what about you?”

Stopping in the doorway, Sombra tapped her fingers against the wall and then looked behind her, grinning wide. “I think you already know mine.” And then she left.

Alone on the couch, Amélie sighed, placing her head in her hands as she fought with her frustration. “What the hell am I doing?” She got up, grabbed her clutch, and shirked away the thought of tossing off the jacket and leaving it behind.

On the way back downstairs, the security guard she ran into grinned in her direction, making it clear that Sombra had everything to do with the man’s reaction, otherwise she’d be dragged off the property for being where she wasn’t supposed to. Amélie rolled her eyes, knowing the thousand different things Sombra could have told the man, all of them ending in, “we fucked in your boss’s house.”

Amélie spotted a trash can on her way out of the house. She dug into her clutch and threw out the tubes of lipstick. It would be a shame if things got out of hand because she got tempted into using them again.

-

In her hotel room, Amélie laid in bed, staring up at the ugly ceiling. Why was it brown? It looked like a giant shit smear. She rolled onto her stomach, resting her head against her arms, taking in the scent on the jacket. Because she was still wearing it and she didn’t know why except for that she liked it. And she had to have liked it because she put in on after taking a shower and was still laying there with her hair wrapped in a towel. It was easier to think about the tasteless ceiling.

“I didn’t kill her.” Amélie rolled onto her back. “She still needs to die.” Her hands felt along the jacket, trying to keep herself busy as distracting thoughts kept contradicting what she needed to do. If she was being honest with herself, maybe she didn’t want to kill Sombra at all. Maybe. Her hand slipped into a pocket, bumping into something card-like.

Room 403. Amélie took in the name of the hotel, mulling over how long it would take her to get there. A 10-minute walk. She sat up and took her hair out of her towel. Sliding off the bed, Amélie put on her boots and grabbed the small handgun from her suitcase. She slipped into inside the jacket, set on finishing the job.

She’d get there, open the door, and shoot.

Except ten minutes later she found herself in front of room 403, stock-still and unable to even get the keycard out. Amélie could turn around, tell them she never found Sombra. But that would end it. And they still had a game to play.

Amélie swiped the key. She pushed down on the handle, pausing before getting it open.

Sombra came out of the bathroom with a trail of steam behind her. She let her robe hang open, too focused on drying her hair to care. After wiping down her face, Sombra let the towel drop to the floor, staring over at Amélie, eyes taking a quick sweep of Amélie’s hands.

Shoving her hands into the pockets of the hotel robe, Sombra stayed rooted to the spot. “Now how’d you get in here?” She smiled.

You wanted me to come here.

Amélie closed the door behind her. She crossed her arms shaking her head at the terrible feign of ignorance.

“Okay,” Sombra turned around to get on her bed, stretching her limbs out as far as they could go before settling on her back, “I was debating on whether or not to give it to you. But you know, you took my jacket. So, you decided for me.”

“Should I go then?” Amélie peeled the jacket off, tossing it onto a nearby chair. She got to the edge of the bed and sat down, focusing on untying her boots.

“Seems like a shame to go so soon. You just got here.”

Amélie moved over to Sombra near the middle of the bed. She got as close as she could without outright touching Sombra. She spotted something peeking out from under the robe. “What’s this?”

Sombra moved the robe away from her right thigh, touching along the line of stitches there. They were recent. “Can you believe some guy tried to kill me?” She reached for Amélie’s hand hovering near the wound, pressing it against the raised skin.

“Were you scared?” Were you scared of me?

“No. He didn’t have a gun.”

Do you know about mine? “And you had one?”

“There was one lying around.”

Amélie pressed on the stitches. “Does it hurt?”

“Yeah.” Sombra moved her hand away, running it up her exposed skin, nails digging in gently.

Amélie pressed harder. “Should I stop?”

“No.” Crescent-shaped marks mapped Sombra’s skin. She kept digging her nails in harder each time Amélie pressed against the stitches until her mouth dropped open and she had to take in short breaths.

Exhilarating, to hear that audible relief from Sombra when Amélie let go, how it fizzled out into an appreciative groan. I wonder how you’d sound with a bullet through your stomach. Would it still be so captivating, like you faded away to someplace better? Or would you stay here with me, pain pulsing through until you can’t feel anything anymore?

Amélie moved her hand up, following along Sombra’s work, taking the time to feel over each little half-moon divot. “I didn’t get to return the favor earlier. You had to go.”

“Is that why you came here?”

“No.” Amélie climbed over Sombra’s thigh, watching her sly smile grow bigger. “I had other plans.” I should have already left you in a puddle of blood on the floor.

Sombra propped herself onto her elbow, shrugging out of her robe.

I didn’t come here for sex.

The mattress shook as Amélie pushed Sombra back down. She didn’t need the gun. Just her hands, her hands over Sombra’s throat, squeezing and squeezing.

I didn’t.

But Sombra was distracting. With that little dip right before the collarbones. And how she took one of Amélie’s hands, having Amélie trace over every bit of skin wandering eyes took in. Until Amélie couldn’t stand it anymore, wanting Sombra so bad she made a liar of herself.

Is it because we shouldn’t be doing this? Or is it the pretty sounds you make? Maybe it’s because you keep me so close and I wanted to feel you so badly.

Did you know this would happen? Is that why you keep asking for more and more.

Can you even speak anymore? You’re trembling.

It’s so warm here, between your thighs. Beneath you. In your arms.

Amélie’s eyes fluttered open in the dark. She blinked the fog of sleep away, feeling her heart thud against her chest as Sombra’s arms tightened around her. Soft breaths let Amélie know Sombra still slept.

As gentle as she could, Amélie moved out of Sombra’s hold. She got out of the bed and headed straight for the nearly forgotten jacket. Amélie pulled the gun out, making her way back to Sombra. One straight to the head was all she needed. Or she could wake Sombra up, taking away the peace of sleep, just to watch fear fill those beautiful eyes.

Sombra shifted in bed, none the wiser about the gun trained on her for the last thirty seconds as Amélie debated on where to bury the bullet.

Get it over with.

Click.

Amélie’s brows furrowed. She squeezed the trigger again. Nothing.

Lowering the gun, Amélie sat down on the edge of the bed. She sighed, staring down at the weapon in her hand. It was loaded with a chambered round. She tested it out before the dinner party. The damn thing worked. “Piece of shit.”

Sombra shifted again at the sound of Amélie’s voice. She murmured something so quiet that Amélie had to convince herself she wasn’t hearing things.

Come back to bed.

It would have been easy to clear the jam, but it was just as easy to stash the gun back into the jacket and climb into bed again.

-

Amélie woke up again. Alone. She saw a note sitting on Sombra’s pillow and reached for the small piece of paper. The writing was in English.

There are over a hundred movie channels here. Pretty cool right? Room’s yours for the rest of the day if you want it.

-Sombra

The ceiling was nicer. A koi pond mural. How had she not noticed before? Amélie crumpled the paper in her hand and tossed it out of sight. She reached for the remote sitting on the nightstand close to her and flicked on the tv. There really were over a hundred movie channels.

She only stayed because the room was better. Because she wanted to add over-priced snacks to the bill and run movie after movie on the tv, each costing about as much as the home release. Because there was a spa package and 24-hour room service with her name on it. Because she knew Sombra had enough stolen money to pay for all of it.

-

Back near headquarters in Venice, three weeks and four assassinations later, Amélie found herself frustrated. Frustrated that her kills were easy. Frustrated that out of all of them, she let Sombra go. Frustrated that she was even still thinking about Sombra. And even that would have been okay if it weren’t for the message she got that morning on her phone. 

-I’m so bored, come visit me <3

That was all she got.

You think I want to come see you?

Amélie spent most of her day ignoring the message. Contemplated on deleting it multiple times. It only occurred to her that she thought about Sombra’s message the whole time on the eighth attempt to erase the damn thing from her phone. Made her want to throw it against the wall.

How did Sombra get her number in the first place? It wasn’t even under her real name. Did Sombra know who she was the whole time? Or was she that good? She’d have to see Sombra again to find out. Because the number she tried to call back was out of service.

I don’t even know where you are.

At least, Amélie thought she didn’t before. The shitty free games she downloaded on her phone kept advertising flights to London. She’d been playing game after game for the past half hour trying not to think about the damn message again and the same ad got in her face each time.

She hadn’t even searched for London, let alone flights there. 

Before making any hasty decisions, Amélie tapped out of the games and loaded up a random website. Same ads. She clicked on a random video, perplexed for a moment why she was watching a live feed of an escaped zoo animal instead of a review of the movies out that week until she realized the zoo was in London. The final deciding factor was the banner ad below the video for a hotel there.

-

Amélie had booked a morning ticket, reading a novel on the flight from Venice to London. Once off the plane, she made her way through the airport, set on getting to her hotel. Until she saw Sombra sitting at a coffee shop right there at the airport.

“What the hell are you doing?” Amélie made her way over to the coffee shop, walking so fast the suitcase behind her nearly took off the ground. 

Sombra was fast asleep, sitting by herself with a half-eaten pastry tart and an empty cup of coffee in front of her. She sat slouched so that the back of the chair supported her head. Wearing a white tank top, a pair of sweats, and some old shoes, she looked like she’d been running errands before coming to the airport.

Amélie took the seat opposite Sombra, blatantly staring at Sombra, trying to see if she really was sleeping. She waved her hand in front of Sombra’s face. Nothing. Saying Sombra’s name didn’t work either. Amélie even went so far as to tap one of Sombra’s cheeks, sitting back down stumped that Sombra hadn’t even woken up.

An airport coffee shop was too out in the open for a kill, so Amélie ordered breakfast instead. She kept thinking that Sombra wasn’t being careful, sleeping out there exposed. Or maybe it was careful because she couldn’t lift a finger against Sombra without someone noticing. Maybe Sombra went to sleep on purpose. Just to mess with her.

Even after Amélie took her damn time eating breakfast, Sombra still hadn’t woken up. She took her book out, picking up where she left off on the plane. After all, there was no point in leaving, not when she came out to London just for Sombra, to finish what she failed to do in Madrid.

The book kept her interest well enough. She managed to finish it without so much as wanting to peek over at Sombra. But maybe she should have because she noticed Sombra staring right at her when she closed the book.

How long have you been awake? The words wouldn’t come. Amélie sat there, waiting for Sombra to say something, anything.

Sombra reached for the remaining half of her pastry tart, taking small bites of it as she stared. “It’s pretty early.” She spoke in English.

It was 10 in the morning. Hardly early. “Yeah.”

Sombra grinned, downing the rest of her food and stretching out her arms. She leaned over the table, chin in her hand. “Were you watching out for me?”

No.

“Someone could have snatched me up, you know.” Sombra grinned. “Oh, but I’d be kicking and screaming at that point.”

Amélie’s eyebrow twitched at the implication. “That would be awful.”

“I know.” Sombra nodded along, enthusiastic in her response. “Just terrible.” She stood up and stretched some more, letting her shirt ride up as her arms extended above her head. “I have to go now,” Sombra dropped her arms and didn’t bother fixing the scrunched end of her shirt, “got something I need to do.”

What was the point in waiting if you were just going to leave? You’re not going to let me follow you. You’ll disappear like you always do and I’ll have to wait, wait for however long it takes to finally get you where I want you. Alone and with nowhere to run. “Do I get to see you again?”

“Maybe.” Sombra scratched at her cheek, eyes peering towards a corner. “If I were you, I’d look out for a call.” She gave a short wave goodbye and turned around, walking away from the table with her hands shoved in her pockets, disappearing leisurely into a crowd of people.

-

Amélie got bored at her hotel. Hours passed and she still hadn’t gotten a call from Sombra. How long did she have to wait? She debated on making the kill slow, to make up for Sombra’s games. But they were what made the whole situation interesting in the first place. Maybe she’d do it fast instead, as a thank-you. That was if Sombra decided to call her.

The whole trip to London could have been another game. Sombra could have hopped on another flight when she left the coffee shop, setting up Amélie for disappointment. She wouldn’t put it past Sombra to try something like that.

The whole thing got on her nerves the longer she had to wait.

Around 5 pm, Amélie climbed into her bed for a nap, tired from traveling and the wasted day she had. She slept for two hours before the phone rang. It was the hotel line. Amélie grabbed for it, speaking through a haze of sleep, “Hello?”

“Good evening miss. This is the reminder call you requested an hour before your dinner reservation.”

Her what? “Dinner?” Amélie sat up, yawning into her hand to muffle the sound.

“Yes, you made a reservation for 8 pm.”

She didn’t do shit. “Thank you.” Amélie hung up before the hotel employee on the line could respond with a similar sentiment.

Getting ready took nearly the whole hour. Shower, get dressed, hair, makeup. It was a five-star hotel after all.

Amélie wore Sombra’s jacket again. She had to roll up the sleeves of her shirt because the jacket was a bit short on the arms. She intended to get rid of it by the end of the night, only putting it on to catch Sombra off guard, conveniently forgetting that she also liked it.

On the way out of her room, Amélie took only her room card and phone with her. She opted to take the stairs, mindlessly ascending the steps on her way to the top floor. The walk helped clear her mind about the whole matter, otherwise, she’d be stewing in her thoughts on the elevator ride up.

At the restaurant, they escorted Amélie to a table with a view. A fall from that height would kill someone before they had time to process pain. Thrilling to think about but doubtful. Sombra probably wouldn’t let Amélie take her to the roof.

Amélie requested a bottle of wine, opting to sip her drink and wait for Sombra to arrive before ordering her food. After nearly finishing a glass, it occurred to her that Sombra could very have stood her up, despite having set up the reservation in the first place. It would only serve as another reason why she had to get rid of the spy. Of course, Amélie was certain Sombra would show.

You can’t resist playing your games, can you?

As the waiter refilled Amélie’s glass, Sombra slipped into the seat opposite Amélie, wearing the same outfit from that morning. Except her shoes were different. A new pair of sneakers, perfect for a high-end restaurant. “Fancy place. Bet the room’s great too.” She picked up her menu, reading through it as she hummed to herself.

“It’s fine.”

“Fine?” Sombra brought the menu closer to her face, squinting at the small text, “Sounds like someone’s bored.”

You wanted me here because you were bored. And then you had me wait. Over and over. “And hungry.”

“I get pissed off when I’m hungry. Bored’s new.”

Is that what you’re trying to do? Get me riled up? “Then maybe we should order.”

Sombra ordered the first thing on the menu, making a quip that since it was first, it should be the best. And Amélie had to order while laughing at the terrible reasoning.

“You look nice.” Sombra had a glass of wine at that point, holding it between both hands, taking distracted sips from it now and then. It was the first time since sitting down that Sombra looked at Amélie, smiling every time her eyes caught sight of the familiar jacket.

Despite the disconnect with Sombra’s outfit and the atmosphere of the restaurant, Amélie found it somewhat frustrating that the only thing she could think of when she looked at Sombra was about how stupidly attractive Sombra was. “You’re stunning.” A simple truth. Frustrating, but true.

Sombra put her glass down and grinned down at the table. “I should have used that.”

“I like the word ‘captivating’ if you feel like changing your mind.”

“Yeah, sounds about right.” Sombra reached for her glass again, swirling the wine around as she flitted her eyes between Amélie and the table.

Are you nervous now?

Amélie leaned in, stilling Sombra’s glass with a touch of her finger. “Worried about something?”

“I’m worried about a lot of things.” Sombra trained her eyes to Amélie’s hand, tracing the curve of Amélie’s finger still on her glass.

“Being careful?”

“Something like that.”

Amélie pulled her hand back when the food arrived.

Admittedly, Sombra’s meal looked more vibrant and appetizing compared to hers. But that wasn’t because it was the first thing on the menu. That was bullshit logic she refused to accept.

“Did you want some?”

“No.”

Sombra pushed her plate closer to Amélie. “You keep looking at it though.” Another push.

It did smell good. Amélie picked up her fork, reaching out for a bite of Sombra’s food when she noticed something on Sombra’s arm. Some discoloration that looked like… Were those fingers? Amélie pulled Sombra’s arm closer with her free hand, thumbing over the bruise. “What happened?” She forked a sample of Sombra’s food into her mouth, wishing for a moment that she’d ordered the same thing.

Sombra didn’t answer.

Glancing away from the bruise, Amélie saw Sombra leaned back against her chair, grinning at the fork that kept coming back to Sombra’s plate. “Sombra.”

Sombra eyed the hand inspecting her arm. “I spent a couple weeks thinking about something. I wondered what it would be like to hear you say my name, in-between those pretty moans of yours, because you forgot that you could say anything else.” She took a sip of her wine, giving a sly smile behind the glass. “I thought about it a lot.”

Heat rushed to Amélie’s cheeks. Because of that look. Those eyes that forbade Amélie from lying to herself. “I thought about it too.” Honesty was the best method to earn trust and the fastest way to get them alone to finish the job.

“What are you doing after this?” Sombra pulled her plate back and slid her captive arm from Amélie’s grip. She focused her attention on eating.

“Why?”

“Because I’m going back to my hotel and all I want to do is relax from the long day I’ve had. I’d love it if you came with me.”

And she just invites me in. Are you sure that’s the careful thing to do? “I’m doing absolutely nothing.” Amélie caught the split second where Sombra’s hands stilled. The stiff way they jerked back to life raised nothing but suspicion.

-

Sombra’s hotel was a few minutes down the street. They walked there after dinner, albeit, at a slow pace. Sombra claimed she was tired. And she very well might have been. They had gone in through a back entrance, taking the stairs up. The whole trek to the fifth floor, Sombra had to stop to sit down, taking in deep breaths through clenched teeth each time.

When they finally got to the hotel room, Sombra took her time rummaging through the left pocket of her sweats, pulling out a keycard that took longer than necessary to find.

“I can’t help but think that I’m,” Sombra swiped the card and pushed down on the handle with her elbow, “forgetting something.” She had Amélie step inside first, flicking on the light with her wrist once she shut the door behind them.

A voice groaned once the lights were on. Someone was asleep on the bed.

Sombra walked to the bed and picked up a pillow, slamming it down on the stranger’s face. She pulled out a small switchblade from her right pocket and slid the point through the man’s neck, slicing clean into an artery. Sombra moved the pillow down to accommodate the blood flow, simultaneously muffling frantic gurgling and keeping the blood from spraying her.

The body went limp.

Sombra let go of the pillow, wiping her knife on it to clean the blood off. She stepped away from the bed and checked her clothes, doing a couple spins to make sure they didn’t get stained. Then she laughed. “Now I remember. I don’t have a room here.”

What the hell are you doing? Amélie’s heart drummed in her chest. Her ears filled with a high-pitched ringing. And she couldn’t look away. The whole damn thing, start to finish, excited her to no end.

Amélie took hold of Sombra’s wrist and got them the hell out of there. She didn’t stop until she was back in her room, out of breath and shaking on the edge of her bed. Her hand still gripped Sombra’s wrist, keeping Sombra standing before her, fixated on that grin that was just for her.

Sombra pulled her wrist free. She climbed onto Amélie’s lap and took hold of Amélie’s hands, placing them on her hips. “What’s on your mind?”

How much do you know about me? What do you want from me?

“I want to know,” Amélie teased the skin she found under Sombra’s shirt, watching Sombra wince and bite her lower lip at the touch, “what happened here.” She lifted some of Sombra’s shirt, seeing the beginnings of an ugly bruise.

“Oh, this little thing?” Sombra laughed when Amélie switched their positions and laid Sombra on her back. She pulled her tank-top off, revealing the extent of the bruising. It was fucking huge.

Patches of pink and red spread across Sombra’s stomach, intermixing with purple splotches. Amélie took it all in, trying to guess what could have happened. Sombra took one of Amélie’s hand, putting it over the center of it all. She kept the hand still, waiting instead for an answer.

Sombra sighed and turned her head to the side, finding interest in the hotel provided pillows. “You know in those gang movies, where some assholes grab someone, hold them down, and then beat the shit out of them until they talk? I got to find out how much it fucking hurts.”

“And that man?” Amélie pressed lightly against the bruising, watching Sombra’s grin come back.

“He was an asshole.”

-

It sounded like… Laughter?

Amélie blinked her eyes open, letting them adjust to the dark hotel room. She homed in on Sombra asleep on her back, foot poking out from the blankets and a giant smile on her face. Sitting up, she grabbed a pillow and held it in the air, hovering it over Sombra’s head.

It was better to get it over with.

Sombra laughed again, mumbling to herself after. “I wanted…” Her words trailed off as she rubbed at her eye in her sleep.

She’s sleep talking. It doesn’t matter what she’s saying.

Amélie gripped the pillow tight in her hands, willing her body to go through with it. She’d done it before, smothering her mark until they couldn’t breathe, desperate hands clawing at her arms to let go. But all she cared about right then was for Sombra to finish what she said, to maybe hear a glimpse of truth that came from sleep. She set the pillow back down, sighing out her frustration. “What did you want?”

The bed shifted as Sombra moved. Her foot slid back under the covers and she reached out a hand, patting around for something. She found Amélie’s knee, satisfied with the contact.

“What do you want?” Amélie asked again, knowing damn well Sombra couldn’t hear her.

Or maybe she did.

“To see you again.”

Amélie could have laughed, knowing that Sombra dreamt of her. Because it only made things harder.

-

Amélie got another text from Sombra two months after London. One word and nothing more

-Barranquilla

She’d never been to South America before. But she booked a flight anyway. 

-

The flight was hell. She couldn’t even sleep the whole trip because it was too fucking long. Two stops prolonged her misery and to top it off, the person that ended up beside her kept trying to read over her shoulder and sneeze in her face.

Having failed three times to kill the spy, Amélie gave it one more shot. The flight only added fuel to the fire. If she could stay angry about it, it might help her resolve.

Amélie got a text immediately after getting off the plane.

-Meet you outside.

Outside of the airport, Amélie gave the area a couple of glances, finding that Sombra wasn’t there.

“Amélie.”

Looking in the direction of that familiar voice, Amélie still could not spot Sombra.

“You’re killing me.” Sombra made her way to Amélie, laughing the whole four steps there. “You looked past me three times.”

Oh. Sombra got a haircut.

Amélie kept quiet, half-listening to the crowd around her as she tried her hardest to take her eyes off Sombra. It wasn’t fair to look that cute. She’d almost forgotten why she flew over there in the first place with how long she stood there.

“You okay?”

Amélie snapped out of it, finding interest in the bustle of the airport instead. “Long flight.”

“Did you want to eat something?” Sombra grabbed Amélie’s suitcase, the one Amélie didn’t even know she had let go of. She led the way past the crowds of people, towards the parking lot.

“I need a shower.” Amélie nearly shuddered thinking about how many times the person next to her on the plane sneezed and coughed over her shoulder while they were busy snooping on her. She might have given them what they had coming if it weren’t for the fact that a dead body on the plane would have only extended her misery.

“What hotel are you staying at? I’ll take you.”

Amélie smirked. “Yours.” She hadn’t booked a hotel on purpose, curious as to how Sombra would respond.

“Oh.” Sombra stopped in her tracks for a moment. She looked over to Amélie with a grin, “It’s ‘cause you like me, right?”

No. Amélie tried to say it, to speak that one word, but it wouldn’t come out. She shrugged instead. “Something like that.”

“Something like that,” Sombra repeated the phrase with laughter in her voice and started walking again, rolling Amélie’s suitcase behind her.

They got to a car that was… Questionable. One of the doors was a different color. The headlights were busted. The whole car was rusted over. And to top it off, the back window was completely shattered. Quite frankly, Amélie doubted the damn thing even worked.

“You like the sweet ride I rented?” Sombra leaned against the hood of the car, patting the discolored exterior.

“It’s…” Ugly. Hideous. A fucking crime to see, “It’s seen better days I’m sure.”

Sombra frowned. “You don’t like it?”

If I could light that thing on fire, I would. “It’s… A car.”

Sombra doubled over in laughter. She slid down the car and held onto her stomach, trying to contain her shaking. “I’m just fucking with you.” Sombra wiped the tears from her eyes. “I saw this hunk of junk when I was leaving the parking lot.” She nodded towards the black car parked by itself. “That’s the one I rented.”

Amélie bent down in front of Sombra, keeping her face composed. “You think you’re funny.”

A grin. “I know I’m funny.”

Amélie’s lips twitched up at the confidence. “Maybe a little.”

-

Once they got to Sombra’s hotel room, Amélie had tossed her suitcase onto the bed and went straight for the shower. And it was amazing. It was like showering in steaming rain, the hot water washing away the disgustingness of her flight. She grabbed a bathrobe when she finished, toweling her hair as she walked out of the bathroom.

Sombra was on the bed, eyes closed, arms crossed behind her head, and her legs hanging off the side. She could have been mistaken for sleeping if she hadn’t tapped her legs against the bed every so often.

“I would have thought you’d be gone by now.” Amélie sat on the bed and pulled her suitcase closer, unzipping it when it was close enough.

“Why would I be?”

One glance over to Sombra confirmed she still had her eyes closed. The vulnerability tempted her. Sombra wouldn’t have time to react before Amélie could snap her neck. Except, Amélie couldn’t find the drive to do it. Probably exhaustion from the trip. “You have a habit of doing that.”

Sombra turned over onto her side, tucking her legs close to her chest. She peeked an eye open as a grin broke out on her face. “Are you saying that you want to spend more time with me?”

Amélie smiled, pushing away her suitcase to lie down next to Sombra. She reached out, touching the side of Sombra’s head to feel away at the shaved hair. “And if I was?”

“Then it’s a date.”

Getting closer, Amélie leaned in and pressed a kiss to Sombra’s cheek. The answering blush made her want to do it again because it almost seemed impossible to catch Sombra off guard. But the look Sombra gave her as she touched where Amélie kissed her said everything she needed to know: They weren’t leaving that hotel if she did it again. And she wanted to see the city. At least, that’s what she told herself.

Amélie sat up and undid her robe. She put on the clothes she pulled out of her suitcase, taking quick peeks at Sombra who had turned over with a grin on her face.

“I got something for you,” said Sombra.

Presents were new. “What is it?”

Sombra lifted her hand and pointed to a box sitting on the other side of the room.

Sliding off the bed, Amélie made her way over to the box. It was purple and wrapped with a white bow. She pulled the bow apart and opened the box, blinking down at the… Gift. A purple strap-on, complete with a bottle of lube. Amélie turned around towards Sombra, still holding the box in her hands. A couple of thoughts came to Amélie the more she stared into the box. All of them completely filthy.

Amélie met Sombra’s gaze and smirked. “Buy me dinner first.”

-

Sombra took Amélie out for lunch once they had left the hotel. Amélie had devoured her meal before Sombra got halfway done with her own. She even jokingly offered some of her food, thoroughly amused when Amélie accepted and plucked the empanadas right off her plate.

“You know, I was only kidding that you could have my plate too.”

Amélie finished the empanada in her hand, shrugging at the statement. “How was I supposed to know that?”

Sombra grinned. “Guess it doesn’t matter now.”

They visited the statue of Shakira right after lunch. Sombra mentioned needing a picture with the statue but refused to take one without Amélie in it. She managed to get Amélie to smile for the photo by singing a self-made compilation of Shakira’s “greatest hits”. They were just Sombra’s favorite songs from the artist.

It wasn’t half bad.

The rest of the day passed by too fast. A museum, dancing, eating ice cream by the port, watching ships come and go. It really was a date. And Amélie wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

Sombra parked the car by an old church, the sight of it jarring Amélie out of her thoughts. Was it another part of the date?

“I’ll be right back.” Sombra got out of the car and hurried up the steps, making her way inside the church. She was gone for about five minutes. As soon as Sombra stepped back outside, she scratched at the side of her head, furrowed her brows, and sighed. She faced the church again, making a quick sign of the cross. It was then that Amélie could see the outline of a gun tucked into the waistband of Sombra’s pants.

“I didn’t know you were religious.” Amélie turned her head towards the driver’s seat, watching Sombra get back into the car.

Sombra smiled. “I’m not.” She reached behind and pulled out the gun. Her eyes roamed the weapon before she leaned over Amélie and opened the glovebox, tossing the gun inside. “The prayer was for,” Sombra buckled herself in and pulled out onto the street, “just in case.”

-

Sombra dropped Amélie off at the hotel with an apology, saying she’d be back in two hours.

Amélie had no reason to be upset about it. But she was. Because she knew what Sombra was doing. The hit was still out on Sombra for a reason and Amélie hadn’t done a thing about it. It wasn’t the fact that nearly four hours had passed and Sombra still hadn’t come back. That would mean something else entirely.

The door unlocked with a click. Sombra shut it behind her and leaned against it. A swirl of red and purple surrounded her left eye. Blood dripped down the side of her face from the cut on her brow. Drops of blood spilled from the swollen, broken skin of Sombra’s upper lip. She sucked in breaths between wiping away the thick beads of crimson with a shaking hand.

“Sorry I’m late.” Sombra pushed off the door, falling back against it after failing to walk.

Amélie got up from the bed, making her way over to Sombra. She supported Sombra upright and helped Sombra to the bed. She piled pillows on top of each other and had Sombra lean against then. Reaching out, she put her fingers on Sombra’s jaw, turning it to the side to see the extent of the damage.

I shouldn’t be doing this.

Amélie had a basic first-aid kit in her suitcase. Gauze, ointment, and painkillers. She needed it more often than she’d like to admit, taking a habit of bringing one with her wherever she traveled.

You can barely move.

Amélie grabbed a complimentary cup that sat next to the hotel provided coffeemaker and walked into the bathroom, filling it with warm water. She grabbed her kit from her suitcase after leaving the bathroom with the cup and a small washcloth.

It would be so easy to…

Opening the first-aid kit, Amélie pulled out the roll of gauze. She tore some off and pressed it to the cut on Sombra’s brow. Blood seeped through the gauze, prompting her to add more on.

To what?

Amélie tore off more gauze, having Sombra press down on the bloodied cloth while her hands were busy.

Sombra’s hand dropped to the bed after a few seconds, along with the blood-soaked gauze she was supposed to hold. She forced out a short breath of air, sounding… Impatient. The cut kept bleeding.

Pressing the fresh gauze to Sombra’s lip, she tried to get Sombra to at least hold onto that one while she focused back on the other cut. It worked for two minutes before Sombra let go once more.

A warm hand wrapped around Amélie’s wrist. “I’d rather you kiss me instead.”

Amélie didn’t even get to clean the blood away. First-aid kit, water, washcloth: All of it dropped to the floor as Sombra pushed them off the bed with one lazy hand.

“You’re a mess.” Amélie eyed the clutter on the floor, conveniently looking away from those dark eyes.

“So?”

So… So, what?

“You didn’t even buy me dinner.”

Sombra hummed to herself. “Ice cream isn’t dinner?” Her fatigue from earlier vanished. That, or she was good at hiding it.

“No.”

“Then I’ll order room service later.”

You have a solution for everything, don’t you? Even for bullshit complaints.

Amélie focused back on Sombra, finding that confident smile beaming right at her. She couldn’t lie, the residual anger from being left alone for fours hours in a new city had vanished the moment Sombra came back. And that was the problem, wasn’t it? Amélie wanted Sombra to stay. She wanted Sombra to stay so badly because whatever this was, whatever game they were playing, it felt too damn good.

Amélie climbed on top of Sombra, eyes roaming the mix of fresh and dried blood. She leaned down and pressed a kiss above the cut on Sombra’s brow. “Good enough?”

“You’re getting warmer.” Sombra wrapped her arms around Amélie’s waist. Her fingers pressed against the skin she found under Amélie’s shirt.

Another kiss, this time beneath Sombra’s bruised eye. “And that?”

“Almost there.”

That copper taste of blood stuck to Amélie’s tongue when she kissed Sombra again. It had to hurt, with the way her lips moved against Sombra’s. If it did, Sombra kept it to herself. Sombra only showed her how eager she was and Amélie fucking loved it. 

It hurts so much, doesn’t it? I tried to help. But you didn’t want it. You wanted me.

Amélie sat up and pulled off her shirt. She sent it flying across the room. Sombra’s hands traveled up her spine, unhooking her bra and pulled it off slowly. Or that might have been the fastest Sombra could go.

Sombra pulled at the pillows behind her, dismantling the support keeping her up. She struggled with one of them, managing to yank it free before falling onto her back. As soon as her head hit the sheets, she gasped, squeezing her eyes shut and raising her hands to cradle her head. “Shit.” Sombra took in a breath between clenched teeth, grinning through the pain. “I didn’t think that through. My head’s spinning.”

“We could stop.” I know that’s not what you want.

Letting her hands drop from her face, Sombra blinked her eyes open. They sparkled with amusement. “You’re so thoughtful.”

I’m not.

Cupping Sombra’s cheek, Amélie ran her thumb over Sombra’s split lip. It was soft and sticky with blood. “Relax for me then.” She could see the fatigue behind that smile and feel the trembling muscles beneath her.

“Relax?”

Amélie grinned. She leaned down, pressing a kiss to Sombra’s ear. “Save your strength. For me.”

I think I figured it out.

Eager lips found Sombra’s neck while Amélie pulled up on Sombra’s shirt. Her teeth scraped against a strong pulse. She could feel it speed up against her lips, especially when her fingers teased away at a taut nipple.

I’m so damn selfish.

Amélie explored lower, kissing her way down to the button of Sombra’s pants. The bruise covering Sombra’s stomach had faded; little spots of purple hinted at what was once there. The button Amélie lazily worked on finally popped open. She pulled down the zipper beneath and slid her hand down, loving the warmth she found and the hitch in Sombra’s breathing.

But so are you.

It was simple. Amélie wanted to hear more. Feel more. She wanted everything Sombra had to offer. Like the hands in her hair when her teeth scraped the inside of Sombra’s thigh. The sweet sounds Sombra gave freely. And the headrush she got from Sombra writhing beneath her, completely lost in pleasure.

You’re so beautiful. Do you know that?

Sombra stared up at the ceiling, one arm over her forehead while she focused on catching her breath.

I think you do. I like that, you know.

Sombra propped herself up on her elbow, grinning like wild as she huffed in breaths of air. She disentangled herself from Amélie, laughing when Amélie had her pay a tax for leaving the bed: One kiss, which turned into three when Sombra admitted that she didn’t actually pay taxes.

Amélie watched Sombra head to the bathroom first, coming out with a towel under her arm. Then Sombra went for the gift box Amélie had moved to the dresser earlier in the day.

When Sombra came back to the bed, she placed the towel down and opened the box, pulling out the harness first. Her hands fumbled with the straps a few times. Sombra explained it away, saying she was clumsy. That wasn’t the real reason but Amélie humored her. She grabbed the dildo next, securing it on the harness. Sombra prodded at it a bit, testing to see if it wasn’t going to fall off any time soon. And then she grinned, pulling back on the strap-on and letting go, making it bounce. “Boing.”

Amélie nearly snorted. She worked on getting the rest of her clothes off. Once she tossed her ruined underwear somewhere that wasn’t the bed, Sombra came closer.

Grabbing the towel, Sombra spread it over the bed. She had Amélie move onto it and climbed in beside her. 

Gentle fingers traced along Amélie’s jaw. Captivating eyes kept her gaze until Sombra’s lips found hers. It was a needy kiss, as if the whole world would stop if they stopped for even a moment. They were practically heroes, keeping the world turning with their passion.

One of Sombra’s hand roamed lower, teasing at the wetness it found. She used one finger to start, adding another and another until Amélie broke away from the kiss to gasp out into the air, her nails digging into Sombra’s back all the while. Sombra took that opportunity to move on to Amélie’s neck, concentrating on one spot with fervor. 

If Sombra were to ask Amélie what two plus two was, she’d have no idea what to say. Not with teeth nipping at her collarbones and Sombra’s hand working tirelessly between her thighs. It was a wonder Sombra kept at it for so long but Amélie wasn’t about to complain.

The snap of a bottle opening made Amélie’s heart pound. She watched Sombra squeeze a good amount of lube out and warm it up between her hands before spreading the lube onto the strap-on. Then, Sombra’s hand was back between her thighs with more lube.

Sombra held up one of Amélie’s legs and positioned herself closer. She smiled, leaning in so close. “Tell me what you want.”

Desperate hands pulled Sombra down, fingers digging into Sombra’s back. Amélie spoke through a cloud of arousal, hardly comprehending that she was speaking at all. “Everything you have.”

Amélie barely noticed the bed shaking beneath her because her mind floated in a haze of pleasure. It was too good to hear Sombra’s shuddered breathing, to feel each thrust hitting the right spot, again and again, those warm lips back on her neck, and Sombra’s thumb between them drawing out deep moans with its dizzying rhythm.

So close. So, so close.

Sombra stopped kissing Amélie’s neck, keeping her forehead against Amélie’s shoulder instead. Her jaw dropped open and her body shook with irregular breathing. She braced her arms against the bed, trying to support herself before falling slack against Amélie. At Amélie’s frustrated groan, she apologized. “Sorry, sorry…” she took a moment to breathe and then laughed, “Everything’s spinning too fast.”

You poor thing.

Amélie ran her fingers through Sombra’s hair, trying to soothe away the pain. “It’s okay. Just relax for me again.” She could feel a smile against her skin when Sombra realized what that meant.

After all, I’m not finished yet.

Sombra gathered herself, managing to pull the strap-on out and flipped onto her back. She watched Amélie get up and reach for the bottle of lube, grinning wide as Amélie applied more to the toy.

Climbing on top of Sombra, Amélie kept Sombra gaze while she sank down on the strap-on, nearly shuddering at the unashamed desire staring right back at her. She braced herself against Sombra’s shoulder and when she moved, Sombra lifted her hands to Amélie’s thighs, her grip barely there.

Just stay with me. That’s all I need. Stay with me and keep looking at me like that. I’ll take care of the rest.

“I think I’m gonna pass out.” Sombra’s words were soft and distracted. She flexed her fingers so slow against warmed skin.

“From the pain?” Amélie touched herself, her fingers struggling to keep their erratic rhythm. She was so damn close.

Sombra’s muscles tensed. Her nails dug into Amélie’s thighs. “Euphoria.”

Fuck.

Amélie’s arm buckled. She couldn’t support herself anymore, not that she cared. All she cared about was Sombra’s skin against hers, anchoring her while her body twitched and vibrated with wave after wave of pleasure.

Is this what you’re feeling? Or is it something more?

Amélie laughed into Sombra’s shoulder.

Is there anything better than this?

Sombra moved again, reaching for the phone beside the bed. She tapped a couple of numbers in and listened to the phone ring. Someone spoke on the other end. “I’d like to order, um…” She covered the mouthpiece with her hand. “What do you want to eat?”

At the mention of eating, Amélie’s stomach roared to life. But she couldn’t think. “I don’t care.”

Sombra lifted her hand from the mouthpiece. “You guys got sandwiches?”

Amélie laughed.

You’re something else.

Amélie had Sombra stay in bed when the food arrived. She grabbed her bathrobe from earlier and put it on to answer the door. Once she had their tray of food, Amélie walked back to the bed, piling up the pillows behind Sombra again to have her sit up. Then she helped Sombra take the harness off because Sombra had trouble with the straps again.

Taking one of the sandwiches, Amélie multitasked. She took bites of her food and cleaned up the mess Sombra made: putting the first-aid kit back together, soaking up the water on the floor with a washcloth and putting the cup away. Then she went to the bathroom and wet another washcloth, finally coming back to bed with it in hand.

Sombra made a face the instant Amélie touched the washcloth above her brow.

“Oh don’t you start. You’re still a mess.” Amélie wiped at the dried blood, ignoring the frown Sombra gave her.

“That hurts you know.”

You can’t be serious.

“Endure it for me then.”

Sombra bit into her sandwich, contemplating the request. “Okay.”

Amélie shook her head at Sombra’s antics, trying her best to hold back her smile.

You really are something else.

-

Soft groaning woke Amélie up.

Sombra had a hand against her face, brows furrowed in pain at the touch. 

Amélie pulled Sombra’s hand away and watched Sombra’s expression soften. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

You’re a deep sleeper.

Amélie pressed her fingers to the inside of Sombra’s wrist, feeling that strong pulse beat against them.

That’s not very careful of you.

Leaving Sombra’s hand alone, Amélie reached for Sombra’s neck, wrapping her hand around it with loose fingers. No matter how much she tried, her fingers refused to squeeze harder. Because that’s all it would take to end things.

Did you know this would happen? Did you know that I…

Amélie clenched her teeth, trying to force her hand to obey. Her muscles twitched, straining in resistance against her. She let go.

I can’t do it.

Can’t wasn’t the right word.

I won’t do it.

Amélie moved her hand to Sombra’s cheek, tracing invisible shapes into warm skin. The sleepy smile that formed in response was contagious. “You were right.”

I do like you.

-

Later in the morning, waking up to another empty bed, Amélie spotted a note scribbled on a torn piece of paper sitting on the bedside table.

You should stay a while. It’s a nice city.

-Sombra

The thought of flying back to Italy made Amélie groan. She rolled over onto her stomach and pressed her face to her pillow.

Fine. I’ll stay.

Amélie grabbed her phone and dialed a number. If she was going to stay, she might as well get some work done. There were plenty of hits out in Colombia after all.

-

A week into her extended stay, Amélie got another text from Sombra. It came in the middle of the night, right after finishing a job. Her phone had buzzed in her back pocket as soon as her target fell to the floor, blood spraying out of his neck. Amélie had read the message in the bathroom of the man’s home after wiping down her face.

It was an address in Laguna Beach.

Amélie left the dead man’s home out the back, climbing over fencing and calling for a cab once she got to the street. Once back at her hotel, Amélie pulled out her laptop to book a flight. She searched the address at the same time, finding a house overlooking the beach. It even had an infinity pool.

Is this what you like to do with all that stolen money?

The house was nice and the implication of it had Amélie packing her bag faster.

-

The plane ride to California wasn’t nearly as long. Amélie got there in the dead of night, glad she didn’t have to deal with a crowded airport. Once outside, she hailed down a taxi and gave the driver the address. The drive didn’t seem long. Then again, Amélie was too distracted with her thoughts to notice when she arrived at the house. The driver had to get her attention by waving a hand in front of her face.

Most of the lights were off. Amélie could see something glimmering from the second story but that was it. She knocked first, ringing the doorbell when she didn’t get a response. Two minutes passed with her standing outside in the dark before her phone buzzed with a new message.

-Do ors opnn

Did it take you two minutes to write this?

The typos clued Amélie in that something was up. She tried the handle, finding it unlocked as Sombra said. It was freezing inside. Amélie took her shoes off at the door and headed for the stairs. She wanted to see what was going on with Sombra before checking out the rest of the house.

A blue-tinted light flickered at the end of the hall, accompanied by little blips of voices spilling out from under the door. Amélie guessed it was a tv.

At first glance into the room, Amélie couldn’t find Sombra. The sheets on the bed were ruffled and the tv hanging on the wall played some old cartoons. And then she noticed the sliding glass door to the balcony. Amélie made her way over and slid the door open.

Leaning over the railing overlooking the pool, Sombra giggled quietly to herself. “You think I can make it into the pool from here?” She looked over her shoulder, blown pupils glimmering from the soft lights shining in the pool below.

You’d probably miss the jump and snap your neck on the edge of the pool. “Let’s not find out.” Amélie reached for Sombra’s hand and led her back inside. She had Sombra sit on the edge of the bed and checked her pulse. It thumped fast and strong against her fingers.

“That feels good.”

I bet it does. “What’d you take?”

Sombra frowned, struggling to keep her lips downturned as she held back her giggling. “That’s a big assumption you made. What if I’m…” Her words trailed off with her attention now on the tv.

Amélie cupped Sombra’s cheek and had Sombra focus back on her. “What’d you take?”

“Mm,” Sombra covered Amélie’s hand with her own, “it was purple. Oh! And there were stars on it.”

Amélie pressed her fingers to the fading bruise around Sombra’s eye. “You feel that?”

“Everything feels good.”

Wrestling her hand free from Sombra’s, Amélie stood up. “Stay here.”

“But-” Sombra tried to get up as well but Amélie pushed her back to the bed.

“I’ll be back.” That quelled the franticness in Sombra’s eyes.

Heading back downstairs, Amélie found the kitchen and filled up a glass of water. She hurried back up the steps, spilling a few drops of water on the way. When she came back to the room, she found Sombra curled up in bed, hugging a pillow and looking ready to cry.

“What’s wrong?” Amélie bent down by the side of the bed and ran her fingers through Sombra’s hair, trying to calm Sombra down.

“I thought you left.”

“I said I would be back.”

Sombra grinned, looking down at the bed in embarrassment. “I forgot.”

Amélie pulled herself up and sat down on the bed. She tapped Sombra’s shoulder, encouraging her to sit up. “Here.” She placed the glass in Sombra’s hands. “Drink.”

“Mm…” Sombra leaned her head against Amélie’s shoulder. “How much?”

“The whole thing.”

A frown. “What if I can’t?”

“Drink as much as you can.”

Placing the cup at her lips, Sombra took a sip. And then she downed the rest in another go. She handed Amélie the empty cup after trying and failing to reach the bedside table. “It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

“What doesn’t hurt?”

“My face.” Sombra grinned. “I can’t feel a thing.”

Did it hurt that much?

“Do you want to go swimming?” Sombra sat up and scooted off the bed.

“No.”

“Why not?”

You’ll drown. “I’m tired.”

“Oh.” Tapping her chin, Sombra got lost in her thoughts. Her body swayed from side to side, eventually switching it up to pace in place. “I just, I feel like I can outrun a racehorse right now.”

“I’m sure you could.”

Sombra stopped pacing, eyes widening like she made a breakthrough discovery. “What about a walk?” She drew circles in the air. “Just around the neighborhood since you’re tired.”

What’s the worst that could happen? “Okay.” Amélie knew Sombra was high out of her damn mind but she couldn’t help her smile at seeing those wide eyes light up with unfiltered joy. She barely had two seconds to enjoy the sight before Sombra pulled at her hand, trying to get her off the bed as fast as possible.

They were out the front door in under a minute. Amélie had to tie her shoes outside because Sombra forgot that was a thing people did. Sombra had assumed all shoes were just slip-on, pointing down at the ones she wore for reference when Amélie assured her that wasn’t the case. And then Sombra promised to buy Amélie a pair after laughing off her embarrassment.

“Can I hold your hand?” asked Sombra.

“You already are.”

Sombra looked down between them, stopping just before running into a pole. “Oh.” When she went to continue walking, Amélie pulled her away from the street sign because she showed no signs of moving away from the damn thing.

“Careful.”

Scratching at the back of her head, Sombra gave a crooked smile. “Sorry.”

Ocean waves filled the silence between them. Sombra would occasionally hum to herself on their walk but she was content to keep quiet for the most part. It wasn’t until something moved in the distance that Sombra spoke again.

Letting go of Amélie’s hand, Sombra tried to get a closer look at whatever was down the street. “Is that,” she squinted her eyes, “a cat?” She took off sprinting down the sidewalk, disappearing into the darkness.

Where the fuck did you go?

Running after Sombra, Amélie kept checking the area for any sign of Sombra.

Maybe you really can outrun a damn racehorse.

Nothing. Amélie stopped to catch her breath, berating herself all the while for not giving chase sooner.

Just let me know where the hell you are so I can drag your ass back to the house.

A tiny bell rang a little further down. Amélie jogged towards the sound, following it to some stranger’s yard, right by some bushes. She found Sombra curled up on the ground with a cat in her arms.

The bell on the cat’s collar jingled each time Sombra scratched at its neck. The whole time Sombra kept muttering high-pitched non-sense words, obviously enjoying herself.

“Sombra.” Amélie bent down and put a hand on Sombra’s arm. “We’re leaving.”

Pausing in her affections, Sombra looked up at Amélie in confusion. “Why?” The cat used the opportunity to jump free from Sombra’s arms and darted away in a desperate scramble.

“Because if you do this again, you’re going to end up waking up in a damn bush somewhere.”

“But I don’t want to go back yet.”

Amélie had to get creative. “If we don’t leave now, you’re not allowed to hold my hand anymore.”

The devastation covering Sombra’s face spoke volumes. She hurried to get up, swatting away stray pieces of grass sticking to her clothes. “Yeah, let’s leave.”

Amélie might have laughed at Sombra’s reaction to her lie if she didn’t find it a little endearing instead. She held her hand out for Sombra. “Come on.”

Sombra eagerly grabbed Amélie’s hand. She walked them back towards where they came from, looking confident in where she was headed. Then she stopped, craning her neck to look for something. “Where’d I put my house?”

You ran so far, it’s no wonder you can’t find it. “That house is yours?”

“I sure hope it is since I bought it.”

“I didn’t think you were the type to buy houses.” Amélie walked ahead of Sombra, leading Sombra back towards the house because she was the only one who remembered where it was.

“Well, you’re right about that.” Sombra laughed and squeezed Amélie’s hand. “I only did it for a pretty girl though.”

Amélie couldn’t help her grin. “Sweet-talker.”

When they arrived back at Sombra’s house, Amélie got a reminder at how cold it was inside. Sombra reveled in it, saying how she was just about ready to combust into flames. At the mention of the pool again, because of course Sombra forgot about their talk earlier, Amélie heaved a sigh and pinched her nose, bringing a confused Sombra back upstairs without a word.

“Okay, okay, I get it. You don’t like swimming.” Sombra had her arms crossed, pouting down at the floor.

“Sombra,” Amélie cupped Sombra’s face with her hands, grabbing Sombra’s complete attention, “if you go out there with how you are now, you’ll fucking drown. Just stay here.” Stay here with me.

Warm hands wrapped around Amélie’s arm. Sombra’s eyes softened, the blue light from the tv highlighting how they sparkled with unshed tears. “You care about me that much?”

I barely know you.

Amélie struggled with the thought. It was true, in the sense that three days wasn’t enough time to know someone. It was also true that they both knew more than they let on. They didn’t have to sit there and break the ice, trying to discuss their similarities: blackmail, theft, murder. The thing was, they didn’t have to say anything at all to know each other. Because their actions spoke volumes.

“Maybe I do,” said Amélie.

I kept seeing you, deluding myself that it was to finish a job. You kept getting under my skin. And now I don’t care about any of that. Because this entire time you’ve been honest about one thing: wanting me. Would it be so bad if I started being honest too?

Sombra let go of Amélie’s arm. She took a step forward and rested her head against Amélie’s shoulder. Her arms found their way around Amélie’s waist, hugging her close. “Okay,” another step forward had them closer to the bed, “we’ll stay here.”

The back of Amélie’s knees hit the bed. She pulled herself further onto it, all the while Sombra climbed on with her, staying as close as she could.

“Is it okay to like this feeling?” asked Sombra.

Amélie found the back of Sombra’s neck, loving how Sombra buried her face in Amélie’s shoulder in response. “What feeling?”

Warm lips brushed against Amélie’s skin as Sombra spoke. “Like I’m in love.”

“You don’t mean that.”

Sombra laughed. “You think so?”

“It’ll pass.”

“That’s disappointing.” Sombra stilled, frowning into Amélie’s shoulder.

Now I’ve done it. She’s sad again. “Forget what I said. Like what you want.”

It took a while for Sombra to respond. When she did, it was with a clarity that had Amélie frozen to the spot. “I like being with you.”

-

Amélie woke up to another empty bed. It wasn’t freezing anymore, not that she had trouble sleeping because of it, Sombra was enough of a furnace to keep her warm. The tv was off, in contrast with last night, where it ran all night with Sombra’s attention glued to the screen long after Amélie had fallen asleep. The sound of the shower clued Amélie in on the fact that she wasn’t alone.

The shower stopped. Singing filled the bathroom. It was some song in Spanish Amélie wasn’t familiar with. It sounded nice.

Steam followed Sombra into the room when she came out. She spotted Amélie immediately and went to sit by her on the bed. “Morning.”

“You’re still here.”

Sombra shrugged. “Needed to break a bad habit.”

“So you bought a house.”

Another shrug. “Yeah.”

“Is this how you seduce all the pretty girls?”

Red spread over Sombra’s cheeks. She gave a nervous grin and scratched at her cheek. “Just one.”

That was interesting to hear.

“Do you remember what you said last night?”

“Ah,” Sombra peered up into a corner of the room, thinking on the question, “not really.”

“Don’t worry about it then.”

“Now I feel like I should worry about it.”

Amélie beckoned Sombra closer with a curl of her finger. She ran her hand through damp hair as soon as Sombra was close enough. “You’re so cute,” Sombra’s deepening blush had Amélie grinning, “and I’m starving.”

Sombra nodded, little droplets of water hitting Amélie’s face at the motion. She backed away fast, muttering a sorry under her breath as she practically ran out the room, chanting ‘breakfast’ on her way out.

Finally getting out of bed, Amélie stretched her arms over her head and went to go take a shower. She had to stop a second to gawk at the huge walk-in shower. She saw the rainfall showerhead installed in it and couldn’t get her clothes off fast enough.

Towels and bathrobes were waiting for her on a shelf opposite the shower. Amélie put on one of the bathrobes, taking a towel as well to dry her hair.

Downstairs, Amélie found Sombra sitting at the breakfast bar, eyes glued to the tv in the background and a tablet propped up in front of her. Sombra had the tv screen split into fourths, each section playing a different newscast. Right beside her sat an empty bowl accompanied by an array of cereal boxes and a carton of milk.

“I didn’t know what you liked so I bought a lot.” Sombra pointed to a colorful box with a toucan on it. “I like that one.” Her eyes never left the screen.

Amélie picked up the rainbow-colored box and read the ingredient listing: sugar, sugar, and sugar. “This is nothing but sugar and food dye.”

“Hasn’t killed me yet.”

Opening the box, Amélie dumped some into her bowl. She poured some milk in and spooned out a bite. Disgustingly sweet. But she couldn’t stop eating it. Amélie shoveled it into her mouth like she hadn’t eaten in days. Probably because she had to run after Sombra last night and her body was wiped. She’d never seen anyone run so fast in her life.

“How long are you staying here?” Amélie’s question grabbed Sombra’s attention.

“Depends.”

“On what?”

“How long you want me to stay.”

“And if I said forever?”

Sombra smiled. “You must really like me then.”

I want to see if you mean it. “A week.”

Sombra raised an eyebrow. “Just a week?”

“To start.”

Reaching for her tablet, Sombra tapped away on it. Her fingers worked fast like she was working from muscle memory at that point. “You like basketball?”

“I’ve never watched a game in my life.”

“You just buy overpriced food and yell when they make a basket,” Sombra smirked, “but I like to keep an eye on the VIP seats.”

Day One

The week started with Sombra’s suggestion to attend a Lakers basketball game. Amélie had a feeling there was something more to it with the mention of the VIP seats. After getting dressed, Amélie had found that Sombra sent her a ticket to the game to her email, the one she never mentioned to Sombra.

They whittled away the time before the game with a movie, which ended up devolving into a make-out session on the couch when they decided that watching superheroes destroy Manhattan again wasn’t enough to keep their attention. Amélie helped Sombra cover the bruise around Sombra’s eye when they realized that the credits had come and gone. Before they left the house, Sombra grabbed a small bag she had stored in the refrigerator, saying something about it being a negotiation tool.

Sombra’s car was nice. She had opened the garage, revealing a ’67 Shelby GT500. The exterior had a new paint job: a deep purple reminiscent of wine. Inside, Sombra had installed a new AC and stereo system. She told Amélie that the guy she hired to do the mods was basically in tears the whole time because she didn’t care about ‘preserving the integrity’ of the original model. She wanted bass and AC that could freeze her tits off.

And it was fucking fast.

Sombra had a sixth sense about police lurking about, conveniently slowing down when coming up on patrol cars and picking up the speed again once she was in the clear. They arrived at the Staples Center with around twenty minutes shaved off the trip, plenty of time to scope out who Sombra had her eye on.

In line, Amélie raised a brow at Sombra’s ‘negotiation tool’.

“Careful, that’s my insulin.” Sombra had her brows creased and a frown on her face as the security guard rummaged through her refrigerated bag. She made a big fuss when they pulled out a syringe and inspected one of the vials.

You are not diabetic.

The labels appeared legitimate but Amélie knew better than that. The thought of Sombra using them in such a public place made her pulse quicken. The first and only time she got to see Sombra work, the sight of it alone was near intoxicating. Amélie hadn’t noticed she stopped paying attention until Sombra nudged her, letting her know that they were clear to move past bag inspection.

The game was better than Amélie imagined but the subtle way Sombra eyed a man sitting front row in the VIP section had her on the edge of her seat. She waited with patience she barely had, bouncing her leg up and down through the first and second quarters of the game. Amélie had to remember how to breathe when Sombra put a hand over her thigh, quelling the shaking with a single touch.

“I need to use the restroom, how about you?” asked Sombra.

One look towards the VIP section confirmed that Sombra’s target had finally moved. Amélie nodded, grabbing hold of Sombra’s extended hand and letting Sombra lead the way.

The first stop was a gift shop. Sombra picked out hats and sunglasses for them both, grinning after commenting that they matched. It would have been cute had Amélie not known better.

Sombra led them towards the bathrooms after securing on her new purchases. She went straight for the men’s room, making a ruckus about free hotdogs on the second floor that had most the occupants running for the door. Kicking open door after door, Sombra had the few remaining stragglers leave until there was only one stall left closed.

“Could you get the door for me?” asked Sombra. She checked her phone and then pulled herself onto the sink to sit. On the counter, Sombra opened her bag, taking out two syringes and filling them with a dose from two different vials.

Amélie grinned, locking the door with shaking fingers, her excitement barely contained.

“You can come out now. 911’s not gonna pick up until I want them to.”

The toilet flushed and out came the same man from the VIP section. His eyes darted to the door first, growing wider at the sight of Amélie keeping guard. He looked back towards Sombra, eyeing the needles sitting on display. “Who are you?”

“Wash the shit off your hands first.”

The sound of running water only added to the tension. The man rushed through lathering his hands with soap, haphazardly spraying the counter with stray drops as he rinsed it off.

“I saw you squirming in your seat by the time the second quarter rolled around. Those super nachos really weren’t a good idea.” Sombra slid off the counter with a needle in hand. “Anyway, you should know who I am. I mean, you were the one who deleted that nice email I sent you.” She pushed down on the syringe until liquid spurted out the tip.

“Hel-”

Sombra surged forward, jabbing the needle into the man’s neck. “Say one more fucking word. Do it, I dare you.”

Whimpering filled the room and tears spilled down the man’s face as he sank to the floor. He kept quiet otherwise.

“Look at that,” Sombra peered over her shoulder and smiled at Amélie, “so obedient.” She squatted in front of the man, pulling out the syringe from his neck with slow precision. “This stuff is pretty strong. I’d say you have about… Ten minutes? Now, I personally don’t care what happens to you, but I figured I’d give you a chance to fix what you did.”

I love this.

Amélie ignored the knocking on the door, too caught up in the scene in front of her to pay it any mind.

“I can find you anywhere. I can take everything you have whenever I want.” Sombra shrugged. “But I’m feeling nice. So, here’s what I’ll do. I’m going to send you a new email, you’re going to fucking read it this time, and then as soon as you do everything I asked, I’ll leave you alone.” She tapped his cheek, grinning wider when he flinched at her touch. “What do you say?”

The man nodded eagerly, daring not to speak.

“See, I knew you’d do the right thing.” Sombra reached for the second syringe and rolled up the man’s sleeve, sticking the crook of his arm with the needle. “Keep in mind I might not be this nice if you call the police. Got it?” She smiled at the enthusiastic nod from the man. “Alright, get out of here.”

You were in control this whole time, weren’t you?

Amélie unlocked the door for the man, watching him struggle through a sea of fans trying to fit through the opening.

Sombra waded through the now crowded bathroom, bag in hand, and grabbed Amélie’s hand, leading them out and towards the concessions.

“You hungry?” asked Sombra. She took off her sunglasses and stuck them on her shirt.

Amélie grinned, still excited from watching Sombra earlier. “Starving.”

Day Two

Amélie found out that Sombra liked to go for a run in the morning. After waking up to find Sombra dressed in full running gear and pacing around the room, she spooked the other woman when she asked what Sombra was doing.

“Sorry,” Sombra rubbed at the back of her neck while holding a hand to her chest, “I wanted to ask if you’d join me for a run.”

Peeking towards the balcony, Amélie took note of how it was pitch black outside. “And if I wanted to sleep in instead?”

Sombra kneeled in front of the bed, resting her chin against the mattress as she pouted. “Please?”

Not a single bone in Amélie’s body could say no to that. She rolled her eyes, trying to downplay her growing smile. “Alright.”

It took less than 15 minutes to get ready, in which by that time Sombra basically dragged her out the door.

The morning air mixed with the ocean breeze kept Amélie cool as she jogged around the neighborhood with Sombra. There weren’t many people out, just someone occasionally leaving their house to get to work. That suited her fine. Getting casual with the neighbors was never her strong suit.

Sombra would stop to pet a stray cat or a dog barking behind a fence, pulling out treats from a pouch strapped to her arm to feed every single one she came across.

It felt all too domestic and routine. But Amélie couldn’t deny that she loved it. She loved the thumping of her pulse as she kept up with Sombra’s pace. The glint in Sombra’s eye daring her to pick up the speed. The way they found themselves at the beach, running along the shoreline without a care in the world as fast as they could. Until Amélie finally caught up and made a jump for Sombra, bringing Sombra down to her knees as she held on with all the strength she could muster.

Eyes closed and with an ear pressed to Sombra’s back, Amélie blocked out the sound of the ocean waves, concentrating solely on the heavy thump of Sombra’s heart, listening to that deep breathing as Sombra caught her breath. She didn’t want to let go.

“I let you catch up.” Sombra’s words came out breathy.

I know.

“Even you can’t run forever.”

“I can try.” Taking hold of one of the hands clutching her shirt, Sombra got Amélie to let go. She unstrapped the treat pouch from her arm and kicked off her shoes, tossing them onto the sand along with her socks. Pulling off her tank top, Sombra tossed it behind her as she made her way towards the water.

Amélie watched Sombra from her spot on the shore. The rising sun caught Sombra’s silhouette, highlighting the way she dunked her head under the water to cool off. Her hands sought the sand, fingers digging through the soft texture, keeping her sane. Because Sombra was all too beautiful, smiling at her from the water with that warm light shimmering from behind.

Sometimes I can’t stand it, that you can have me holding my breath so easily. It’s not fair.

Sombra waded out of the water and made her way over to Amélie. Sand stuck to her wet skin as she got on her knees before Amélie, settling onto Amélie’s thigh and wrapping her arms around Amélie’s neck. “You look lost.” Warm lips hovered near the crook of Amélie’s neck.

“What are we?” A pleasant tingling shot up Amélie’s spine at the smile against her skin.

“Whatever we want to be.”

Is it that easy?

Shaking hands sought out Sombra’s back, feeling their way over warm skin. She dug her nails in, near overwhelmed at the kiss against her neck. Amélie fell back onto the sand, or maybe that was Sombra’s doing. She didn’t fucking care.

Would it be okay if I told you I never want this to stop?

All that came out were pleasured moans and stuttered breathing.

Day Three

Amélie woke up before Sombra, practically dragging Sombra out of bed to go running again. They came back a sweaty mess, which was better than the day before where they tracked sand all over the house. At Amélie’s insistence, they spent the rest of the day at the house.

“Want to use the pool?” asked Sombra. She muted the news broadcasts she watched while she ate breakfast.

Amélie had to fight off the urge to say no, the question having reminded her of her first night there. “I didn’t bring a swimsuit.” Not that she needed one, she just wanted to give Sombra a hard time, a little payback for earlier.

“I got you one.”

That didn’t turn out how Amélie planned. But Sombra had a habit of doing that. “What if I don’t like it?”

Sombra scratched at her cheek and the corner of her lips curled slightly. “It’s pretty, like you.”

As much as Amélie would have liked to press Sombra’s buttons more, the blush that spread across her cheeks stopped her in her tracks. Plus, she wanted to see the gift after Sombra’s comparison. She smiled and got up from her chair. “You’re so thoughtful.” Amélie watched the realization dawn on Sombra with the rehashed line: wide eyes, raised brows, flushed cheeks, and a flurry of cut-off syllables trying to escape her mouth.

Got you.

“Come on, I want to see my new swimsuit.”

Sombra slid off her chair and hurried her way upstairs, leaving Amélie scrambling to catch up. She had already changed into her swimsuit, a simple black two-piece, and was on the bed holding a box by the time Amélie got to the room.

Taking the offered box, Amélie pulled on the bow, smiling wide. “Have you ever considered running professionally?”

“Maybe, if things were different.”

Amélie’s hands stilled before she could get the box open. “How so?”

Sighing, Sombra stretched out over the bed and faced the pillows. “I grew up running drugs for a street gang. I learned to run because I had to, not because I wanted to.” She shrugged. “I like it enough now,” rolling over to face Amélie, Sombra grinned, “especially when my running partner is so beautiful.”

You’re still running, aren’t you?

Amélie pushed the box away. She climbed onto the bed, settling in behind Sombra. Her arm wrapped around Sombra’s waist and she pulled Sombra close. Lips sought out the soft skin beneath Sombra’s ear, placing a gentle kiss to quell the slight shaking she could feel thrumming throughout Sombra’s body. “You’re the one who’s so beautiful.”

I’m sorry. I didn’t know. You don’t want to hear that, I know.

Warm fingers held onto Amélie’s arm, digging in more and more until they let go altogether. Sombra turned around in Amélie’s hold, burying her face in Amélie’s shoulder. She let out a held breath and clutched to Amélie’s shirt.

But if it’s alright, I’ll hold you as long as you need.

-

By mid-afternoon, Amélie found herself poolside with a glass of wine in one hand and Sombra’s tablet in the other, watching Sombra doze off in the middle of the pool on an inflatable pink donut. Sombra had on her Lakers cap and sunglasses, making Amélie smile every time she took her eyes away from the eBook she was reading. She had yet to get in the pool, much to Sombra’s disappointment.

“You know that thing’s waterproof, right? You could probably read underwater if you wanted to.” Sombra lifted her shades, showing off the hopeful gleam in her eyes.

“I want to finish this first.”

“The whole damn book?”

“Yes, I’m half-way done.”

Pushing off the pool float, Sombra swam her way towards Amélie. She rested her arms on the side of the pool and frowned. “I knew I shouldn’t have let you have that when you asked for it.”

“Then why’d you give it to me?”

Sombra somehow frowned even harder. “Cause I’m too nice.”

Before all this time with you, I would have laughed at that. But you are nice, I’ll give you that. “You’re a complete softie.”

Sombra pulled herself out of the pool. Water dripped off her body, splattering against the ground in heavy droplets. She draped her body over Amélie’s in the lounge chair, delighting in the futile protests coming from Amélie. “You think I’m soft?”

“I take it back.” Amélie hugged the tablet over her stomach, refusing to give it up to Sombra’s relentless fingers.

“Can’t take it back now. Let me show you how soft I am.” Sombra switched up her tactics, targeting Amélie’s sides instead. Amélie writhed beneath her, struggling to both hold on to the tablet and keep herself from laughing. Her efforts proved successful when she held the tablet victoriously over her head, out of reach from Amélie.

Reaching for the tablet, Amélie struggled to get it back. Sombra kept raising it higher and higher. She gave up. “If I go in the water with you, can I have it back?” She had a soft spot for trashy romance novels and Sombra took the tablet away from her right as the main characters were about to fuck. But Sombra didn’t need to know that.

“Is what you’re reading really that good?” Sombra gave the screen a look, her eyes glossing over the text at an insane speed.

Amélie was beyond mortified at the expressionless face Sombra held as she kept reading.

Sombra tapped the screen. “You know, we can fuck better than these two.”

“There’s a difference.” Amélie tried for the tablet one more time to no avail.

Sombra looked at the tablet again, eyebrows furrowed. “Because they’re in a barn?”

I’m going to die. And it’s your fault.

Amélie couldn’t even blame the sun for her red-stained cheeks. She could feel the blush up to her ears. “I’m not saying anything else.”

Climbing off Amélie, Sombra gave Amélie the tablet back. She stretched her arms over her head while she yawned. “Well, I’m hungry now so I’m going to get the grill going. You finish your book.” She grinned wide at the last word, hurrying off inside before Amélie could say anything else.

Amélie buried her embarrassment, scrolling back up to where she left off with no remorse. Ten minutes into her reading, she got a message on the tablet asking her to turn the grill on.

It took Amélie a moment to find the grill. It was tucked in a corner and covered up. She felt silly for missing it because the thing was huge. Fiddling with the knobs, she managed to get it on.

Another ten minutes passed and Sombra came out with a tray full of grill ready food, condiments, utensils, plates, and a big bowl. After oiling the grates, Sombra took out a grilling pan and tossed chunks of potato into it. She placed the pan over the heat, along with two ears of corn. “Could you watch these for me? Just turn the corn around after a minute or two and toss the potatoes around every so often.”

Saving her spot in the book, Amélie went to help Sombra, accepting the tongs given to her when she was close enough. She already liked the smell coming from the potatoes and was intrigued by the corn. From the corner of her eye, she saw Sombra lay a big piece of meat onto the grill. The scent of it cooking had her stomach begging for something to eat.

“You look like you’re going to start drooling,” said Sombra.

“It would be a shame if I did that all over this food.”

“I don’t mind a little drool here and there.”

Amélie laughed. Of course Sombra would say something like that. “You always have a comeback, don’t you?” The corn looked almost done and the potatoes had gotten soft.

“It’s part of my charm.” Sombra turned the meat over again. Then she reached for the pan of potatoes and dumped them into a bowl. She picked up a potato masher and make quick work of them, turning them into a fine mash. Dumping some softened butter into the mix, she mixed it in well until they tasted how she liked them.

You might be too charming.

Taking the corn off the grill, Amélie set them on a plate. “Maybe that’s why I like you so much.”

The potato masher went flying. Sombra cursed under her breath, hurrying to pick it up from the ground. She placed it beside the grill, holding onto it for a distracted moment before letting go of it, her fingers detaching from the handle in stiff movements. Focusing back on the meat, Sombra kept quiet, taking quick little peeks at Amélie sampling the mashed potatoes when she thought Amélie wasn’t looking. Her smile kept getting bigger with each look.

-

“You’re like a siren with all that hair.” Sombra ran her fingers through long, dark locks floating around Amélie. She sat on the steps to the pool, waist-deep in the water. Amélie draped over her lap, head leaning against her shoulder. They had been in the water for a few hours, taking a break to watch the sun go down.

“Are you sure you want to be this close then?” Amélie reached behind Sombra’s neck, lightly running her nails over the sensitive skin she found.

“Yeah.” Sombra closed her eyes and relaxed into the touch.

“And what if I decide to hold you beneath the water until you choke on the water in your lungs?” Amélie got up and pulled Sombra into her arms, carrying her deeper in the water. She could hear her pulse thumping in her ears, captivated at the fraction of a smile when she let go of Sombra.

“You can try. But…”

“What?” Amélie pressed a hand to Sombra’s chest, pushing down so slow.

“I know you’ll pull me back up.”

Amélie’s neck got hot as she watched the water cover Sombra’s face. Her breath caught in her throat, struggling to fill her lungs. Shaking hands created ripples in the water. The pool lights came on with the last streak of sun gone from the sky. Shimmering blue shone from below, swallowing Sombra in a soft glow. Amélie could barely stand it all, especially the part of herself that didn’t want to let go.

Why won’t you move? Would you really let me do this to you?

Amélie pulled Sombra up by her shoulders, feeling her breath come back as Sombra took in deep gulps of air. She held Sombra close as she walked them to the edge of the pool where the water seamlessly blended with the ocean beyond.

What the fuck am I doing?

“I’m sorry.” Amélie ran a hand along Sombra’s back. With each cough from Sombra, Amélie could have sworn she choked on her own heart. “I’m so sorry.”

Sombra lifted her head, catching Amélie’s gaze. She cupped Amélie’s face with her hands, rubbing her thumbs along tear-stained cheeks. “What’s got my siren so sad?” Leaning in close, she pressed her lips to Amélie’s, kissing her so soft.

A sweetness Amélie didn’t deserve. But she kissed Sombra back, drinking in all the gentle concern wasted on her. After all, she was selfish like that.

-

After taking a shower, Amélie stood in front of the bed, watching Sombra type away on her laptop. Her body refused to get any closer.

“I’m going to sleep in the room down the hall,” said Amélie.

Sombra stopped typing, keeping her eyes glued to the screen. “Yeah, sure.” She continued typing.

The response was unexpected but welcome. Amélie didn’t want to talk about how her actions earlier still weighed down on her shoulders like a fucking anchor.

Leaving the room, Amélie made her way down the hall and opened a door she hadn’t touched since her first day there. She went for the bed after closing the door behind her.

The sheets smelled new. Not a hint of Sombra on them. Amélie pulled down on them and got into bed. It felt too big, despite the bed being smaller than the one she’d been sharing with Sombra.

The thoughts lurking in the back of her mind came crawling out, keeping Amélie wide awake.

I was supposed to kill you. You know that, don’t you? But it turned into this instead. This, this whole thing that feels like a dream.

They told me how you work. Cutthroat and unforgiving. That’s not quite right, is it? Otherwise, I’d be like the rest of them, a stain that got wiped away.

You’ve never laid a finger on me and it drives me crazy. I keep waiting for you to change your mind, to finally realize that I’m not worth it. But all you do is give, and give, and give. I just doubt, indulge, and try to hurt you.

But the thing is, part of me believes this is all an act. That this whole thing is a game for you. And maybe it is. It must be exciting to break me down with your honeyed words and gentle hands. I’d be the fool that fell for it.

She closed her eyes and tried to clear her thoughts.

A knock sounded on the door.

Amélie turned over in bed, eyeing the digital clock that told her two hours had passed. She was still wide awake.

“Are you asleep?” The door muffled Sombra’s voice.

What are you doing?

Amélie flipped back to face away from the door. As the seconds ticked by, she could hear Sombra’s muted sigh. “I’m awake.”

The door clicked open. Sombra closed it softly and made her way over to the bed with hardly a sound. The mattress dipped on the end opposite Amélie. And then nothing.

The stretched silence finally got to Amélie. She turned around again, finding Sombra resting her head on her arms at the edge of the bed as she kneeled on the floor. Moonlight spilling through the curtains gave Amélie all the light she needed to see Sombra. “What are you doing over there?”

“Thinking.”

“You can think on the bed.”

Sombra’s lips curved up for a moment at the invitation. She climbed onto the bed and grabbed a pillow, hugging it to herself. “You ever want to talk about something but you don’t because you think all the good things you have will disappear? And it’s harder when all those good things turn out to be one person who makes you stupidly happy.”

Amélie frowned, feeling those words thumping hard against her chest. “Sombra…” I don’t know what happens if we talk about it.

“You don’t have to say anything now, not if you don’t want to.” Sombra rubbed at the back of her neck, focusing her gaze on the pillow in her arms. “It’s just, I was getting pretty lonely back there by myself.”

“Come here then.” Amélie lifted her arm, inviting Sombra to lie down with her.

Sombra chose to hide her face in the crook of Amélie’s neck while she wrapped her arm around Amélie’s waist. She hugged Amélie tight, mumbling a goodnight in the comforting hold.

It was then Amélie decided that she’d rather be the fool.

Day Four

“Your eye looks better,” said Amélie.

They waited in the car by a closed down Family Dollar, passing the time until one of Sombra’s contacts showed up.

Sombra touched above her eye, probing the scab splitting her left eyebrow. “I don’t think this bit of eyebrow is going to grow back though.”

Amélie reached over and brushed her thumb over the purple scab. “You’re still so beautiful.”

Taking hold of Amélie’s hand, Sombra pressed a smiling kiss to it. “That’s a relief. I was starting to get insecure about my fucked-up eyebrow.”

Headlights pulled into the parking lot.

Sombra dropped Amélie’s hand and got out of the car. She crossed her arms, waiting patiently for her contact to get out of their car.

“You said you’d be alone.” A man stepped out. His lips twisted in dissatisfaction.

“Don’t worry about her.”

He pulled a gun out. “Get her out of the car.”

“I don’t know what kind of shit you’re pulling. I just want the gun I ordered.”

“I’m not gonna repeat myself.”

Sombra knocked on the door.

Amélie breathed a sigh. She opened her door and slammed it shut behind her, walking around the car to stand beside Sombra. It didn’t take a genius to figure out Sombra had been sold out.

“They’re paying good money for you.” The man shrugged. “The payout’s still decent if my finger slips.”

“And what happens to her?” asked Sombra. She gestured her head toward Amélie.

He smirked. “Don’t worry about her.”

“You’re a little bitch.”

“Shut up.”

“A motherfucker.”

“I’ll fucking shoot at the next word that comes out your damn mouth.”

“Oh, you’re gonna shoot me? You’re too much of a chicken shit to do it.”

What the hell are you doing?

Amélie’s muscles tensed at the blatant goading from Sombra.

The gun went off. The man shot three times. One bullet flew through the side of Sombra’s leg and embedded itself into the driver’s side door of Sombra’s car with the other two that missed.

Sombra dropped to her feet, clutching at her leg as she hissed through her teeth. “They’re paying you all this money and you can’t even shoot me right.”

“Shut the fuck up.” The gun shook in the man’s hand.

Sombra lunged forward, tackling the man to the ground. She ripped the gun out of his hand, only to let go of it when he kneed her in the stomach. Her fist met his jaw. The man grabbed at her shoulders after a second punch and slammed his head into Sombra’s.

Amélie moved. She went straight for the man’s neck, squeezing hard. He clawed at her hand but her grip didn’t let up. She squeezed harder, feeling his throat spasm under her grip.

Struggling for air, the man thrashed about with abandon until Sombra jabbed her elbow into his chest. He let out a strangled cough and stilled.

“I think,” Sombra pushed herself off the man, grabbing the fallen gun, “I’ll just take your gun.” Shoving the muzzle of the gun right under his jaw, Sombra pulled the trigger.

Blood splattered between them. Most of it sprayed onto Amélie but a few stray droplets streaked Sombra’s face.

Amélie could barely contain her shaking. Mesmerizing. Excitement struck her core, keeping her rooted to the spot. She barely registered when Sombra pulled her hand away from the dead man’s neck.

Standing up, Sombra kicked the body. “He shot my damn car.” Another kick. “Son of a bitch.” Limping over to the man’s car, she climbed inside and searched through the glove compartment. She popped open the trunk, pulling herself out the car when she finished rooting around. Sombra spent too much time looking in the trunk. Then it finally clicked.

Rushing to Sombra’s side, Amélie slung one of Sombra’s arms around her shoulders and pulled Sombra upright, taking off pressure from the injured leg.

“Hey look, there’s one for you too.” Sombra gestured to a handgun sitting in the trunk with a weak hand.

Taking the gun felt like a bad idea. But maybe Amélie would end up needing it. She stuffed it into the waistband of her pants and slammed the trunk closed with her forearm. Walking them back to the car, she opened the driver’s side door and had Sombra climb into the back to lie down.

“That guy’s gonna cry again when he sees what happened to my car.” Sombra put a hand over her eyes and grinned. “You think blood comes off these seats easy?”

“Maybe.” Amélie eyed the wound soaking Sombra’s pant leg, trying to size up whether Sombra needed stitches or not.

“I think I have some wipes,” Sombra winced, “for your face.” She lifted her free hand and waved towards the trunk. “They’re in the back.”

Amélie wanted to argue that there were more important things to worry about, the leg being one of them, but she could see where driving around with blood on her face might cause a few problems. She opened the trunk and searched for the wipes, finding them in a backpack along with a change of clothes. Shucking her stained shirt off, Amélie used it to wipe down her face and neck before tossing it into the trunk. She pulled on the clean, galaxy-cat shirt, trying hard not to picture Sombra wearing it instead. It’d be cuter on her.

Opening the wipes, Amélie grabbed one and rubbed away at the lingering spots of blood on her skin. She made her way back to Sombra with another wipe in hand, cleaning up the specks of blood dotting along Sombra’s face.

“Are you okay?” asked Amélie.

“I’m fine. Might need to stitch the leg up though.”

“Then you’re not fine.”

Sombra shrugged. “I’m doing better than the dead guy.”

Amélie leaned her arms against the door frame, resting her head against them. “Does this happen a lot?”

“People think they can take advantage of me,” Sombra dropped the arm covering her eyes, staring straight at the roof with dull eyes and a tired smile, “but everyone who’s put a hand on me is dead.”

Heat traveled up Amélie’s neck, spreading the burning to her ears. She backed a step away from the car. Her hand clawed at her shirt, trying anything to calm the deep thundering of her heart.

Everyone but me.

Amélie lost her footing, tripping over herself with another step she took. She landed near the body. The asphalt tore at the palm of her hands, but the creeping guilt spreading down her throat distracted her from the pain.

Footsteps made their way toward Amélie. They stopped right before her. A voice said something but she couldn’t hear it.

“Hey,” Sombra bent down on shaking legs, squeezing a hand on Amélie’s shoulder, “we should get out of here.”

I don’t deserve you.

Amélie refused to move, too focused on keeping the flood of tears at bay. Warm arms picked her up and carried her away to the car. She should have walked her damn self, but, instead, she wrapped her arms around Sombra’s neck, feeling her heart ache at each trembling step. The comfort of being held had her feeling lower than dirt because she couldn’t help but love it.

“I’m sorry.” Amélie clutched at Sombra’s shirt, stretching it out at the neck. All she got in response was a kiss to her temple as Sombra buckled her into the passenger seat. And that was all it took to get hot tears running down her face.

Day Five

Amélie stared at the blood on the bed. She stitched Sombra’s wound last night but Sombra kept moving around in her sleep. The fact that Sombra hadn’t woken up from the pain impressed Amélie but it also had her frowning at the same time.

She’s probably used to it.

As far as Amélie could tell, Sombra worked for herself. A lone spy with some unknown agenda. Effective too. Sombra had gained the ire of anyone who knew how the world worked. She could do anything she wanted. But there she was, choosing to spend her time with Amélie instead.

It excited Amélie to no end. She loved the attention. She loved the way Sombra looked at her. Even when she drove herself crazy trying to figure out Sombra’s game, she still played it. Because the way Sombra touched her made everything worth it.

But Sombra was also funny. Smart. Resilient. She got flustered easily, blushing so brightly that it was almost too cute to stand. And she was so warm, melting away all the troubles in the world with a comforting hold. A damn marvel of a human being.

Sliding off the bed, Amélie went downstairs to the kitchen, filling a glass of water for Sombra. She headed back upstairs, finding Sombra still passed out.

Placing the glass on the bedside table by Sombra, Amélie went into the bathroom and came back out with a damp washcloth. She grabbed her first aid kit and pulled out a roll of gauze. The skin was probably too sensitive to stitch again.

Pushing the sheets up, Amélie uncovered Sombra’s legs. She wiped around the wound, cleaning up the caked-on blood. With the wound clean again, she wrapped Sombra’s leg with gauze. As she tried to tie off the gauze, Sombra moved her leg, wiggling her toes as she stretched. Amélie pinned the leg down with a strong grip and gave Sombra the side-eye. “Stop moving.”

“Mmm?” Sombra stretched her arms over her head and yawned. Unable to move her leg, she curled her body closer to Amélie. She tried to understand what was going on in her tired state; the cute crease of her brows gave her thoughts away. Confused hands traveled up Amélie’s arm, feeling around for nothing in particular before she retracted them in favor of holding her head. “My damn head hurts.” She rolled onto her back and grabbed a pillow, covering her eyes with it.

With Sombra preoccupied with her headache, not surprising given the headbutt she received last night, Amélie took the opportunity to finish tying off the gauze. “More than your leg?”

“It’s more distracting than my leg.”

Amélie grabbed the first aid kit again. She stuffed the roll of gauze away and took out a bottle of painkillers. Shaking some into her hand, she reached over Sombra for the glass of water. Amélie pulled down on the pillow Sombra kept glued over her eyes. Betrayed eyes stared up at her when she managed to wrangle it free from Sombra’s grasp. Amélie held the pills and water out as a peace offering. “For your head.”

Sombra reached for the offerings with half-lidded eyes and a small frown. Some of the water dribbled down her chin because she refused to sit up to take the pills. She put the cup down on the table beside her and pulled the pillow over her eyes again. “I should have bought blackout curtains.”

“Do you want any help getting up?”

“I’m staying here until everything stops hurting.”

“That could take all day and I want to change the sheets.”

Sombra lifted the pillow and looked down at her leg. She eyed the blood stain with furrowed brows. “Shit.” Sombra sat up fast, clutching at her head for a second before standing up. She took one step and sat back down to clutch at her head again. “Yeah, I need to get to the bathroom.”

It always hurts more after the fact, doesn’t it?

“Do you want me to carry you?” Amélie grinned, already sliding one arm under Sombra’s knees and the other around Sombra’s shoulders. She hoisted Sombra up with little effort, smiling wider when warm arms wrapped around her neck.

“Like a princess.” Sombra rested her head against Amélie’s shoulder for the short walk to the bathroom. She asked to be put down by the sinks, splashing her face with cold water before making a mention on where the extra sheets were.

It didn’t take long to find the sheets stowed away in the closet. They were purple. Unsurprising. Darker than the ones covering the bed: a lavender color now stained with blood. Amélie made quick work of the ruined sheets, putting the new ones on with practiced precision. By the time she was done with them, it looked like she had ironed them.

Sombra came limping out of the bathroom and immediately unfurled Amélie’s work by plopping on the bed and cocooning herself in the fresh sheets. A cute display, one that had Amélie climbing back onto the bed to lie opposite Sombra to take in Sombra’s excellent cocoonmanship. 

“Feel any better?” asked Amélie.

“No.” Sombra grinned, inch-worming her way towards Amélie. “But, do you know what would make it better?”

Amélie knew exactly what Sombra was going to ask for but she humored Sombra anyway. “No, what?”

“You could kiss it better.”

“The headache or the leg?”

Sombra shrugged. “Why not both?”

Matching Sombra’s grin, Amélie held Sombra’s head between her hands and pressed a kiss to Sombra’s forehead. She peppered in a few more for good measure. A warm hand wormed its way out of Sombra’s blanket cocoon and touched Amélie’s cheek. The adoring eyes catching Amélie’s gaze had Amélie catching her breath. She hadn’t realized she’d been holding it until a gentle thumb ran along her lip.

“You know, I couldn’t care less about my leg or my damn head,” Sombra freed her other hand, finding that one spot on Amélie’s hip that made Amélie’s eyes flutter closed, “because when I touch you, everything feels so good.”

That raw honesty had Amélie’s pulse spiking. “Tell me something,” Amélie’s heart thundered in her ears, “why me?” Why haven’t you killed me yet?

Sombra shuffled closer. She chuckled under her breath as she tucked a strand of hair behind Amélie’s ear. “Because I can be myself with you.”

A simple reason that had Amélie feeling like a fool again. But she didn’t care anymore. Especially when Sombra kissed her, drowning away Amélie’s thoughts with those soft lips of hers. She felt good. So fucking good.

-

By mid-afternoon, they went to go get Sombra’s car fixed. To avoid a potential stop by the police, Sombra slapped a Lakers sticker that came with her purchase over the bullet holes that were conveniently grouped. Which, it worked. They were able to drive to Sombra’s ‘car guy’ undisturbed.

Parking off to the side of the car shop, Sombra got out first with Amélie in tow. She headed straight inside, towards a man working underneath a suspended car. She squatted down to his level. “Hey man, you busy?”

The man slid out from under the car and realization spread through his widening eyes. “A bit.” He pointed up to the car he stopped working on.

Sombra waved his reply off. “Great. I need you to buff something out for me.”

The mechanic peered over to Amélie for a moment before focusing back on Sombra with a defeated stare. He sat up, wiping his greasy hands with a discolored rag before standing. “Show me what’s up.”

Sombra led the mechanic over to her car, coming up with some bogus story on the way there. “You see, I was shopping at my local Wal-Mart last night, you know, one of those twenty-four-hour ones. When I got back to my car, I was so surprised at what happened.” Sombra bent down and peeled away at the sticker. “Someone shot my sweet ride.” She shook her head with a sigh. “I guess that’s what happens when you shop at Wal-Mart.”

The mechanic stared at the hole. His mouth kept opening and closing.

“You can buff it out, right?”

“That doesn’t…” His words trailed off as he chose to gawk at the holes again.

Sombra doubled over in laughter. “I’m just messing with you. I just need a new door ‘cause the door panel is fucked up too. Save you the trouble of filling in the holes.”

Unshed tears brimmed the mechanic’s eyes. He nodded as he used his sleeve to wipe at his eyes. “Yeah, sure.”

Is he getting emotional about the car?

“And if you could get that door for me today, that’d be even better.” Sombra pulled out a roll of cash and slipped it into the mechanic’s pocket.

He nodded again, unsurprised by the exchange.

Holding out her hand, Sombra spoke to Amélie. “Come on, there’s this new Swiss Café that just opened up. I think it’s coffee and ice cream.” She gestured with her chin towards the sidewalk. “It’s not far.”

Amélie took Sombra’s hand and frowned as they made their way away from the autobody shop. “Are you sure you can walk there?”

A smile. “It’s not far.”

The café was a few blocks down from Sombra’s mechanic. It was small and pristine. The coffee smelled amazing but Sombra had her interest glued on the different flavors of ice cream. Amélie ordered a café crema while Sombra got a sundae with a scoop of passionfruit-mango and swiss chocolate ice cream.

They sat down at a table across from the only other customers in the café. Sombra ate her ice cream while looking thoughtfully at the other patrons. Amélie sipped her coffee and tried to figure out what Sombra thought about.

Sombra lowered her spoon and leaned in towards Amélie, whispering her next words. “Don’t you think they’re a cute couple?”

Amélie blinked. She gave the strangers another glance and shook her head. “They’re not dating.”

“No, they are.” Sombra furrowed her brows and ate another spoonful of her sundae.

“The blonde definitely has a thing for the eye tattoo one, I’ll give you that.”

Sombra pursed her lips. “I bet you they are dating. I’ll show you.” She took one more quick bite and limped her way to their table.

The blonde appeared surprised at Sombra’s presence. Her companion only raised a curious brow. 

“Alright, I got a bet going on with my girlfriend that you two are dating.” Sombra bent down nearer their table and whispered not so quietly, “It’s okay if you tell me a lie too, just as long as I win.”

The one with the eye tattoo covered her blush with a sip of her coffee. “This isn’t a date.”

The blonde spoke up. “It’s not?”

Sombra whipped her head around, showing off her raised brows, wide eyes, and jaw-dropped smile.

“I mean, I wouldn’t mind if it was.”

The blonde smiled. She looked up to Sombra, “Then you can tell your girlfriend you just won a bet.”

Sombra hobbled back to her table with a huge grin.

“That barely counts,” said Amélie.

A shrug. “But it still counts.”

Amélie rested her chin on her hand. “And what about the girlfriend part?”

Sombra’s grin disappeared, caught off guard by the question. She rubbed at the back of her neck, avoiding eye contact. “I get a little carried away sometimes.”

“I liked it though.”

Sombra lifted her gaze. “Yeah?”

Reaching over the table, Amélie took hold of Sombra’s hand and smiled. “Yeah.”

-

They spent hours in that café, ordering more coffee and ice cream to keep the owners happy. When they got back to the car shop, the mechanic was already waiting outside next to Sombra’s car.

Sombra limped her way towards the car as fast as she could with Amélie in tow. “You fixed my baby.”

Just as requested, the mechanic managed to get in contact with a muscle car guy to get the new door. He painted it the same color as the car and even detailed the car when he finished installing the door.

“Try not to shop at Wal-Mart again.”

Sombra grinned. “No promises.” She opened the trunk and dug through a bag she stashed there earlier, pulling out an envelope. Sombra handed the mechanic the envelope with a thanks.

After the mechanic left to close shop, Sombra got a message on her phone. She sent a quick reply before stuffing it back into her pocket and got inside her car. She turned to Amélie after turning the car on. “How do you feel about stealing a painting?”

“Resale is hard.”

Sombra laughed as she pulled onto the street. “Let’s say it’s for a trade. Some lady gets a painting, I get the entry codes to a secret government facility. She really likes paintings.”

“And what about your leg?”

“It’ll be fine.”

After a three-hour drive, Amélie found out what fine meant. Sombra just ignored the pain, gritting her teeth whenever the leg bothered her too much.

The painting was in a private home. Sombra had parked down the street, taking the backpack she packed with her. They had to jump a fence, which Amélie opted to go first so she could catch Sombra rather than let her land with an injured leg. Sombra made a comment on how sweet the gesture was once she landed in Amélie’s arms, making Amélie blush the whole time Sombra spent disabling the security system.

Which led them to where they were now, Looney Tunes masks on with guns in hand searching for the painting matching the one Sombra showed Amélie on her phone. They ran into a little boy instead.

“Hello.” The boy seemed about four or five. “Are you here for my birthday?” He definitely wasn’t taught about strangers yet.

Sombra tucked away her gun and got down to his level. “Is it your birthday today?”

The boy shook his head. “Daddy says it’s tomorrow.”

“I guess we’re a little early then, huh?”

The boy giggled. “That’s okay.”

“I got something for you, but you have to promise me you’ll open it tomorrow.”

He nodded eagerly, standing on his tiptoes in excitement.

Sombra pulled out a neatly wrapped gift and a birthday card from her backpack. She opened the card for the boy. “Can you tell me what it says?”

The boy took the card and concentrated on the words. “Happy fourth birthday Evan.”

“Look at you being so smart already.”

You knew about him this whole time.

Evan grinned at the compliment, suddenly getting too shy to speak.

“Actually Evan, there’s one more thing I need from you before I give you the present.” Sombra pulled out her phone and showed the boy the painting she was after. “Where does your dad keep this?”

Evan pursed his lips. He pointed to a hallway leading west. “His office. I’m not allowed in there by myself.”

Sombra handed the present to the boy. “I’ll keep you company then.”

Happy to be holding the present, the boy practically took off towards the office. “This way.”

Amélie shook her head at the exchange. Sombra managed to get useful information out of a child using bribery. It was pretty funny.

When they got to the office, Sombra found it was locked. She pulled out her lock-picking kit and got to work opening the door.

“What are you doing?” asked the boy.

“I’m just using another key is all.”

“Oh.” The boy accepted the answer without question.

Once the door opened, Sombra spotted the painting she was after hanging above a desk. She squatted down by the boy. “I have one last favor for you Evan. If you go to your room right now, you can open that present I got you.”

The boy’s eyes opened wide like saucers. He nodded vigorously and scrambled out of the office.

“You’re terrible,” said Amélie.

Sombra shrugged. “I get results. Plus, the boy’s not complaining.”

“What did you get him?”

“A math workbook.”

“That’s a shitty gift.”

Sombra laughed. “I’m kidding. I got him a remote-control car. A really good one. I read that his dad doesn’t like to buy him toys and just gets him books and nature documentaries. He’ll like it.”

“How long have you had this planned? How much do you know about this family?”

Sombra pulled out the chair from the desk and used it as leverage to pull the painting down. “Let’s see. I got the request two weeks ago. Did some research and found out a lot of things. And you never know what’s going to be useful until you’re in the moment, but I’m good at guessing. I know the wife is away on a trip to see her sister. The boy’s dad isn’t here either because of a business trip. There’s an in-house nanny but she’s asleep right now because I have access to her phone. Evan should be sleeping now too but you know how little kids are.” She pulled the painting down and slid it under her arm. “There’re other things too but I don’t want to bore you about the brand of shoes the boy wears and stuff like that.”

Sombra said it all like it was old news. But it spoke volumes on what she could do. Yes, Amélie could have gotten some of that information as well, but to know exactly when the only threat to you would be sleeping? And to throw in some casual remark about the boy’s shoes? Acting like that information was an easy find. It was no wonder everyone wanted Sombra dead. She knew too much.

Day Six

Amélie’s phone alerted her to a new message. She gave the screen a cursory glance, seeing that it was from work. It could wait. Sombra slept soundly in her arms and she didn’t have the heart to potentially wake her up over a damn text message.

About an hour later, Sombra stirred. She stretched her legs out and turned around to bury her face in Amélie’s chest.

“I had a good dream,” said Sombra. She yawned and rubbed at her eyes. “What’s the chance that I can make it come true?”

“Depends, what’d you dream about?”

“Well, you were in it. We were right here.” Warm fingers found their way behind Amélie’s neck, making the fine hairs stand on end with their teasing touch. “You asked me one question and after that, it was heaven.”

I know where this is going. Amélie grinned. “And what did I ask you?”

“You asked me to fuck you in every room of this house.”

There were a lot of rooms. A tingling sensation shot up Amélie’s spine. She wasn’t horny before but Sombra turned that switch on with a dream she probably made up. “We can start here first.”

Sombra shot out from the bed, rushing to get to the bathroom. “Let me brush my teeth first.”

Grinning at Sombra’s retreating form, Amélie got out of bed as well. She needed to brush her teeth too.

-

It was sometime during the night that Amélie finally checked her phone. She had just come out of the shower, washing away her long day of hard work, when her heart stopped at the message on the screen.

We have reason to believe Sombra will be in the LA area soon. We’ve despatched an agent already. She needs the intel you have.

Amélie couldn’t lie and tell them she didn’t have it because she told them she did. She even told them she was in California for vacation. “Fuck.” Sombra was still in the shower so she had time to respond. Shaking hands spelled out one word.

Okay.

Another text came in with the address for a hotel and the time for the meetup. The water in the background stopped. Amélie swallowed the dread building in her throat. She decided on what she needed to do, hoping so desperately it wouldn’t get her killed.

Sombra came out of the steaming bathroom, humming a tune to herself, completely oblivious to Amélie’s plight. She spotted Amélie and furrowed her brows. “What’s wrong?”

“I…” Amélie tossed her phone away from her. She wasn’t going to ruin the best night of her life. “I’m just hungry. It’s making my head hurt.”

“I’ll order something then. What are you in the mood for?”

Say something. Anything. “Pizza.”

“What toppings?”

Amélie ran a hand down her face, trying to rein in the ice running through her veins. “Ah, you decide. I’m not picky.”

Sombra sat down on the bed and ran a comforting hand along Amélie’s back. “I’ll get you something to eat soon.”

Leaning into Sombra’s hold, Amélie listened to Sombra make the pizza order. Being able to hear and feel Sombra, it did a lot to lift her worry.

Day Seven

By the time Amélie needed to leave for the meetup, she had to stop herself from becoming a shaking mess. She packed a bag the night before, mainly to keep her gun stowed and to not raise any suspicion from Sombra.

“Sombra.”

Lifting her gaze away from the movie they were watching, Sombra gave all her attention to Amélie. “Hm?”

“I need to borrow your car.”

“Uh, now?”

Amélie nodded. “I need to do something in LA.”

Sombra focused back on the tv. “Yeah, sure. Keys are in the kitchen drawer.”

Leaving Sombra in the living room, Amélie went upstairs to grab her bag and then took the keys from the kitchen before leaving the house.

The drive was hardly rememberable. Amélie could only recall being grateful for the repairs to the car as she drove by quite the amount of patrol cars.

Parking by the hotel, Amélie got out of the car and headed inside. She rode the elevator to the third floor, taking her time finding room 308 after she got off.

Two knocks. She waited.

Some shuffling sounded behind the door before it opened to a familiar face. They’d worked together before on a handful of assignments. Amélie was never fond of her. Maybe it was that sickly-sweet demeanor the other woman kept up, despite her interest in torture tactics.

“Amélie, it’s so good to see you.” The agent widened the door to let Amélie inside. “How are you? I heard you’ve been using your vacation days recently.”

If there was such a thing as an on the clock assassin, Amélie would be it. She never took a vacation because the kill was all the thrill she needed. “I’m fine.”

“Always so grouchy.”

“Crawford, I’m not here for idle chat.”

The agent frowned and crossed her arms. “How many times do I have to tell you? It’s Georgiana.”

“As many times as you’d like.”

Crawford laughed. “Okay, okay. I won’t keep you from your vacation. From your attitude, you seem to still need it.”

Amélie’s eye twitched. She pulled out her phone and showed Crawford the sketch of Sombra. “This is what she looks like.”

“You’re telling me you couldn’t snap a quick photo of her back in… Where was it that you failed to catch her?”

It took a lot of willpower not to ball her hands into fists. “Madrid.”

“Oh, that’s right.”

Amélie ignored the dig at her abilities and hurried out a description of Sombra’s quirks and qualities to Crawford, who stood there nodding attentively the whole time.

“Now I must ask, how come you never told us about any of this? It sure would have come in handy for us poor agents looking around without a clue for this thorn in our side.”

“It slipped my mind.” Amélie crossed her arms. “Maybe because I work too much.”

Crawford got up close and gave Amélie a hardy slap on the back. “Oh, you probably wanted to catch her yourself. I get it. It must be humiliating to lose one.”

“You got me.”

Crawford led Amélie to the door, opening it for her. “You never fail to make me laugh. But if you’ll excuse me, I’ve work to do.”

Amélie lifted a brow. “Oh? We’re not going to catch up over wine and reality tv?”

“Maybe next time.” The door shut in Amélie’s face.

Getting back on the elevator, Amélie let out a held breath, releasing all her frustrations from the encounter with one exhale. Maybe her plan wasn’t such a bad idea.

She got back into the car and waited, keeping an eye on the hotel entrance. If there was one thing Amélie knew about Crawford, it was that the other woman hated to stay cramped in a hotel room. She always went out for a walk no matter how inconvenient it was for the mission.

It took three hours of waiting but Crawford finally showed. Amélie pulled on a hoodie she borrowed from Sombra and tucked her gun into her waistband. Getting out of the car, Amélie followed at a distance. It was dark out and not many people were on the sidewalk. It made things easier.

Crawford ducked into an alley after fifteen minutes of walking. Expected. Amélie chased after her, keeping her ears trained for movement in the distance.

Light footsteps ran past the dumpsters in the alley and headed left. Amélie picked up the pace, following the sound with boundless energy. She ran on pure adrenaline, pushing herself to go faster with every corner she turned.

Someone jumped down on Amélie and pulled her to the ground. She recognized it was Crawford by the sound of her annoying grunting. Amélie pushed off the ground and slammed Crawford into the nearby brick wall. Crawford let go, allowing Amélie to get the upper hand. She grabbed Crawford by the throat and slammed her head against the wall, taking satisfaction in the way Crawford slumped to the ground.

Amélie got on one knee and took the hood off. “You never were good at this.”

Crawford tried to get up but Amélie pushed her back down with one hand. “You know, after your third vacation, they couldn’t track you anymore.”

Amélie’s brows furrowed. And then it hit her. Sombra.

“I tried to stick up for you, you know. There was no way you’d go rogue.” Crawford coughed. “But even I couldn’t ignore the evidence against you.”

Shit. “What are you talking about?”

“Oh honey, they want to get rid of you. And after tonight, you’re fucked.”

Shit, shit, shit. Amélie needed time to think. “Just shut up.” She pulled her gun out.

“You put that down and I might be able to smooth things over for you. I’ll say it was all a big misunderstanding. Maybe your phone malfunctioned. It was just a coincidence that you were always in the same place as Sombra.”

“I tried.” Amélie could barely contain her frustration bubbling over. “I tried to kill her.” She slammed her fist against the wall, right next to Crawford’s head.

“She’s just using you. You think she cares about you?”

“You’re wrong.”

Crawford laughed. “You’re willing to kill me over a two-timing spy? She’s nothing special. She’s only in it for herself. She couldn’t care less about you.”

It took too much time to finally get those thoughts out of her head, Amélie wasn’t about to let the annoying excuse for an agent get to her. “I’m going to warn you once, don’t say another word.”

“Or you’ll shoot?”

Amélie squeezed the trigger and blood splattered against the brick wall.

Crawford’s body slumped over to the side; her eyes were stuck wide in surprise.

Amélie put the gun away in her waistband and stood up. She took a deep breath to calm down. Pulling out her phone Amélie deleted the sketch of Sombra and clutched the phone in her hand. She made her way out of the back alleys and tossed her phone to the street, listening to a passing car shatter the damn thing. She didn’t need Talon trying to contact her again.

-

Pulling up to the house, Amélie spotted Sombra sitting on the steps to the house.

Sombra had a pack of cigarettes squeezed in one hand while she puffed away at one with the other. She stared straight into the headlights, not even attempting to get up.

Amélie got out of the car and stood in front of Sombra. She crossed her arms. “I didn’t know you smoked.”

“Only when I’m stressed.”

Amélie went up the steps and took a seat behind Sombra, pulling Sombra close to her as she wrapped her arms around Sombra’s shoulders. “And what’s got you so stressed?”

Sombra put out her cigarette. “I’ve got a thing tomorrow. I decided not to go.” She sat quiet after that, not moving a muscle.

Crawford’s words came creeping back.

_They couldn’t track you anymore._

Did Sombra see that message?

Amélie nearly jumped out of her skin when Sombra spoke again.

“Come to Mexico with me.”

“What’s in Mexico?”

Sombra dropped the pack of cigarettes. She leaned into Amélie and relaxed. “Home.”

-

They booked the earliest flight they could, not even sleeping a wink as they packed and locked down the house. Sombra had put her car away in the garage with a solemn goodbye, promising she’d be back for it. She really liked that car.

A cab took them to the airport. They pretty much breezed through TSA, partly because one of the agents tapped Amélie on the shoulder and offered her the express line for her and any travel companions. They picked up coffee and cinnamon rolls for breakfast, eating the food at their gate to whittle the time away.

As soon as they got on the plane, Sombra took a sleep-aid and passed out in her seat not even twenty minutes later. Something about wanting to avoid listening to crying babies. There were three on that flight. Amélie was grateful the flight wasn’t that long.

Warm sun greeted Amélie after touching down in Mexico. There was a nice breeze that kept her comfortable. Sombra grabbed her hand and walked them out of the airport and over to a waiting car.

A man stood outside of the car, waving them over. As soon as they were close enough, he rushed to Sombra and hugged her close, kissing the top of her forehead. They spoke in Spanish, which brought Amélie back to the time she first met Sombra in Madrid.

“And who’s this?” The man finally let go of Sombra to focus on Amélie.

“My girlfriend,” said Sombra. She couldn’t stop smiling the moment she said it. It was contagious.

Amélie found herself in the receiving end of a strong hug. She hugged him back, seeing that there was no other option.

“Let go man, she’s gonna suffocate.”

“She’s strong, I can tell.” The man let go anyway. “Come on, come on. I’ll drive you two home.” After putting their suitcases in the trunk, he ushered Sombra and Amélie into the back of the car, forgetting all about introductions.

Sombra leaned over in her seat to whisper in Amélie’s ear. “Don’t think you’re off the hook. He’s just waiting to introduce you to everyone later.”

“Now I’m nervous.”

“I wouldn’t worry too much. Most they’ll do is have you eat way too much and smother you in hugs. Especially since they know I never bring anyone home.”

Amélie laughed. “That doesn’t help.”

The ride didn’t take long. Amélie enjoyed the singing spectacle between Sombra and their driver. They belted out some power ballad together with the windows rolled down, basically giving a concert to anyone who passed by.

When the car finally stopped, Amélie took in the scenery around them, caught off guard by the bayside beauty of Sombra’s place. The smell of salt air reminded Amélie about the house at Laguna Beach.

Is that why you picked that house? Because it reminded you of home?

Sombra took Amélie out of her thoughts when she grabbed Amélie by the hand and led her to the front door.

The place was small. A single twin-sized bed sat in a corner looking worse for wear. There was a huge computers setup. Monitor after monitor hanging off the wall, each one displaying something entirely different. A small kitchen was tucked away in another corner of the place. The only other room was a bathroom. A stark contrast to the way they were living that past week alone.

Sombra took a seat by her computer. She opened a drawer and pulled out a gun, setting it on the desk. “How many times have you tried to kill me?”

An overpowering ringing ripped through Amélie’s ears. Her blood froze in her veins. The frost crept up her neck and threatened to choke her. She backed up a step, nearly tripping over her own feet. “I…”

There was nothing she could say that made her sound any better.

“You… You what?” Sombra leaned her head against her hand, eyes shining red. “There was the first time we met. Poison.” She laughed. “Never had that happen before.”

She did know.

“And then you’d give me that look, like you were sizing me up, trying to figure out the best way to do it.” Sombra got up. “Because that’s what you do best.” She tapped something on her keyboard and brought up photos of Amélie’s kills. “All your kills are a damn work of art.”

Another step back.

Sombra sat back down in her chair, sighing into her hand. “It was exciting to even be near you. Playing with death was an addicting game to me.” She wiped at her face, clearing the unshed tears in her eyes. “But then I wanted to see you again, and to do that, I had to be more careful.”

You knew they were tracking me and that’s why you never stayed past morning.

“It just got harder each time I saw you because I figured out that I could be myself and that you would never judge me for that.”

Because you’d do the same for me.

“So I found myself still alive with this…,” a tear ran down Sombra’s cheek, “this, insatiable desire to keep seeing you. But I had this thought in the back of my mind. What if you were just waiting? Waiting for the right place to finally do it. I bought that house so we’d be alone, to see what you’d do. And you know, if you were going to do it, I didn’t want to feel it.” She shrugged. “So I numbed everything away the night you got there.”

_I can’t feel a thing._

Amélie remembered that one phrase Sombra spoke while high out of her mind. She backed away once more. Her back hit the wall. Everything Sombra did clicked into place. It hurt so much to hear because Sombra never once expressed wanting to hurt her. Amélie was the only one who did that.

“It was like a fucking dream. Because I woke up still alive and I got to be with you. Do you know how happy I was all week?”

I was happy too.

Sombra didn’t even try to stop herself from crying anymore. “That time at the pool. I know you didn’t mean it. I didn’t hate you for it.”

I know you didn’t.

“But then I got nervous because I was still being careful.” Sombra brought up another screen, highlighting Amélie’s text message exchange with Talon. “What am I supposed to think after reading that? Did you still want to kill me after everything?” She picked up the gun and held it out for Amélie. “I’m tired of being careful. If you are going to do it, I’d rather die at home.” A quivering smile spread across her lips. “But I’ll only give you one chance.”

Amélie took the gun. “I tried to kill you two times in earnest. You know about the poison but when I woke up in the middle of the night the first time I met you, I tried to shoot you.” She shrugged and put the gun back into the drawer it came from. “But the gun jammed. I could have cleared it, but I didn’t want to because it was easier to get back in bed. With you.”

It would have been the worst mistake of my life had I done it.

“Another time I tried to smother you in your sleep.” Amélie smiled. “You know you talk in your sleep? You told me that you wanted to see me again. How could I kill you after hearing that?”

You’re too charming even in your sleep.

“And the last time, I had my hand over your throat, trying to see if I had it in me anymore.” Amélie wiped at the tear that spilled down her cheek. “I couldn’t.” She got on her knees in front of Sombra, putting a tentative hand on Sombra’s knee. “I didn’t want to anymore.” Amélie smiled when Sombra took her hand. “Which is why I felt worse than dirt after what happened in the pool. You were perfect, forgiving me when I didn’t deserve it, after everything I tried to do to you.”

You’re still perfect.

“That message you saw, I went over there to take care of it. I wasn’t going to let them hurt you.” Sombra’s hand shook in hers. “I killed that agent they sent to LA. But maybe that was a mistake on my part because now they’re after me too.” More tears spilled over her cheeks. “But I don’t fucking care, as long as I can stay with you.”

Sombra slid off the chair and pulled Amélie into her arms. “Okay.” One damn word that meant everything to Amélie.

Maybe everything would turn out okay.

A hopeful thought that was more than enough for them both.

**Author's Note:**

> So I was halfway through writing the sequel for Exposure when I got inspired to write this. Literally dropped everything to do it. I will be going back to finish that sequel now that I have this out of my head (among other things). I hope any of you that decided to read this had a good time. Catch ya later.


End file.
